For the second time this season, Real Madrid dropped points to Villarreal in a 0-0 draw. Unlike their earlier meeting, Real created far more chances in this one, thanks to a furious second half that was a total rebound from another lifeless first-half performance.
In some ways, Real were unlucky and hurt by some atrocious none-calls at the expense of Vinicius Jr., who was hit in the face in the penalty box on two occasions. But Madridistas know they cannot make excuses about the refs after a first half that was that bad and after missing a handful of big opportunities in the second stanza.
Here are the player ratings from Real Madrid’s 0-0 draw with Villarreal at the Estadio de la Ceramica, just days before they face PSG at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League.
GK Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois made a couple of big stops and had to show calmness on the ball. His biggest save may have been from his own teammate’s errant clearance, as Marcelo had quite the shocker at the back.
Rating: 7.0
LB Marcelo
Awful. Marcelo looked good against Granada, producing his best performance for Los Blancos in quite some time. But he was back to his worst against Villarreal, getting toasted by Samuel Chukwueze multiple times. How he did not surrender a goal from one of the many times Chukwueze beat him one-on-one or from one of his three poor clearances is beyond me. Marcelo is the luckiest man on the pitch that Real Madrid did not concede, and aside from one nifty switch to Marco Asensio, it is not as if he was any good offensively either.
Rating: 2.5
CB David Alaba
David Alaba made one crucial block and completed about 99 percent of his 83 pass attempts. So he was solid. But he wasn’t spectacular and did not impact the team’s build-up play like he usually does.
Rating: 7.0
CB Eder Militao
Meanwhile, Eder Militao was even more impressive than Alaba, making a few decisive recoveries defensively. He impressed Madridistas again with a hefty shoulder to Danjuma in the penalty area. Militao’s long-range passing remains underrated, and his reading of the game really should get praised more. He had a whopping 11 clearances in this clean sheet.
Rating: 8.0
RB Dani Carvajal
In truth, I expected more from Dani Carvajal, whose passing was quite poor. He was not involved enough in supporting attacks, which especially hurt Real Madrid in the context of how poorly Marco Asensio played as the right winger. Fede Valverde was also invisible in the first half. That said, Carvajal did fight hard defensively with five tackles.
Rating: 5.0