Real Madrid Player Ratings as Luka Modric, Thibaut Courtois steal the show in Supercopa triumph

LW Vinicius Jr.

Many Madridistas thought Vinicius Jr. would be one of the stars of the show against Athletic Bilbao, but Marcelino did a great job of game-planning against the world-class winger. Vinicius Jr. had very little room to work with, though it was not like he was helped much by a hesitant Mendy on the left. The winger was subbed in the second half for Marcelo, having recorded no successful dribbles against a stingy defense.

But to say Vini played poorly would be inaccurate. He did a LOT of dirty work defensively, recording five combined tackles and interceptions. Even offensively, he had two key passes. So when you factor in his all-around play, he was not bad. Just not as dynamic as we are used to.

Rating: 6.0

CF Karim Benzema

Although Karim Benzema scored, he was the worst player on the pitch for Real Madrid. Unlike in the Getafe game, he was not the worst player on the pitch because he was more abysmal than the rest of his teammates, but rather because he did not shine like his teammates did.

Benzema recently said that fans are too focused on goals and assists. Unfortunately, I must use this logic against him. Although one of the world’s best penalty takers put away a brilliant penalty past a frustrated Unai Simon, who had guessed right but could do nothing about the power and accuracy of the shot, he was poor otherwise.

The No. 9 had no key passes in this game. He took a few ill-advised shots. His movement and decision-making were not as sharp as usual, and while he had a few nice dribbles on the ball, they amounted to very little.

Rating: 5.5

RW Rodrygo Goes

Rodrygo Goes was the best player in Real Madrid’s front three, which bodes well for him getting more starts over Marco Asensio. After a strong performance off the bench in the semifinal win over Barcelona, Rodrygo assisted Luka Modric’s first goal and put in a lot of good work on both ends of the pitch to help the team. Like usual.

I would like to see Rodrygo’s technical decision-making improve. For example, he wastes a lot of Kroos’ long passes by approaching the ball the wrong way, and he needs to be better at anticipating how defenders are positioned when shooting. That said, he was good against Athletic Bilbao and can build on this latest assist.

Rating: 7.0