Real Madrid were horrible in the first leg of the Champions League, and it was only by the excellence of the center backs and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois that Los Blancos seemed headed to share the spoils. That is until, of course, the ever-present danger man Kylian Mbappe scored a great solo goal in stoppage time to lift the home side to a 1-0 victory.
Things won’t get easier for Los Merengues in leg two at the Santiago Bernabeu, as both Casemiro and Ferland Mendy will be suspended after picking up fifth yellow cards.
Here are the player ratings from another poor performance from Real Madrid, who had dropped points to Villarreal this past weekend in LaLiga.
GK Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois was one of the two best players on the pitch. Kylian Mbappe showed he is the world’s best outfield player, while Courtois made a few massive stops, including one on Lionel Messi from the penalty spot, to keep Real in the game. He very nearly gifted Los Blancos a point with another crucial performance. The way he elevates this team is so invaluable, and Madridistas continue to be indebted to the man between the sticks. A man who proved many of them so very wrong after they once wrote him off.
Rating: 9.5
LB Ferland Mendy
Ferland Mendy, though perhaps not as egregiously so as Karim Benzema, did not look 100 percent. Not even close. That said, Mendy did a fair enough job against Angel Di Maria. He wasn’t awful and was still a better option than Marcelo, even at far less than full strength, but Mendy cannot get a positive grade. He just didn’t offer enough going forward and was exposed a little more when he went up against Mbappe.
Rating: 5.0
CB David Alaba
David Alaba was one of only three players who truly excelled for Real Madrid and looked like they belonged on the pitch in the Champions League. He made a brilliant defensive play to block a shot from Mbappe and had a couple of interventions that helped stopped goals.
The Austrian star had a whopping four interceptions in total, and that is an accurate description of the work he did cerebrally and with his body to keep PSG out of the goal until the very end.
Rating: 8.0
CB Eder Militao
Another massive performance from Eder Militao, who was the best outfield player on the pitch in several ways. He looked better in the build-up play than the midfield, and he and Alaba did so much work defensively to frustrate PSG despite all the possession the home side had accrued.
This isn’t the first time Militao has been head and shoulders above more experienced players. The young Real Madrid center back led the team with four tackles and three blocked shots, proving that Los Blancos would have been blown off the pitch without him.
Rating: 8.5
RB Dani Carvajal
Dani Carvajal had a couple of nifty tackles, but, by and large, he was destroyed by Kylian Mbappe before taking an early night. The Spanish international just could not handle Mbappe’s explosiveness, but, worse yet, he was too undisciplined to play things smart, whereas his teammates Alaba and Militao had the right idea.
Offensively, Carvajal was a black hole. This was a poor performance from a player who is too important to Real Madrid to be able to flop like this on a big stage. Carvajal’s starting position for 2022-23 cannot be guaranteed if he continues to be this inconsistent.
Rating: 3.5
CM Toni Kroos
When Toni Kroos plays poorly, Real Madrid tend to go south. That was the case against PSG. Kroos was outclassed by Marco Verratti to the point where he was barely perceptible. And going into this game, Madridistas, perhaps arrogantly, thought Kroos would control the midfield with ease and be a key to victory.
That was not a false conclusion on prior evidence, but Kroos ended up having a really disappointing day. His passes were not accurate, and he failed to impose himself on the ball. Kroos completed below 90 percent of his pass attempts and didn’t offer enough progressively.
Rating: 5.0
DM Casemiro
Casemiro’s suspension for the second leg really hurts Real Madrid, though, at least, there are more options to replace him than there are for Ferland Mendy at left back.
The Brazilian did make some good plays defensively with four tackles, and aside from one silly backheel attempt in his own half, he was good on the ball. His pass completion percentage was only marginally lower than Kroos’, and he made and attempted one more long pass than his German counterpart in midfield.
Rating: 7.0
CM Luka Modric
Like Toni Kroos, Luka Modric was a serious disappointment for Real Madrid. Nothing he did on the ball came off, and he struggled to progress play with PSG pinning Madrid deep. Modric was always going to be important to Real’s ability to get up the pitch and transition, and he may have been the most disappointing player on the pitch, when you account for the fact that Karim Benzema was injured and Vinicius Jr.’s effectiveness was always going to wane without a fit Benzema.
One of the best midfielders in the world, Modric did not live up to his reputation at the Parc des Princes. As much as Madridistas love him, they must be honest there. Modric did a lot of good work defensively, but he was just too weak in his attacking contributions to earn a positive rating.
Rating: 5.0
LW Vinicius Jr.
Vinicius Jr. has been exceptional this season, but he was anything but stellar at the Parc des Princes. Former Real Madrid right back Achraf Hakimi pocketed the star winger on the same day that Carvajal had a torrid time with the star power of Kylian Mbappe, as he himself was subbed for Lucas Vazquez, too.
There is no doubt that if Benzema isn’t at full strength, Vinicius struggles. We saw that against Villarreal at times this weekend, and he was even more frustrated by Hakimi in the Champions League. That said, he was the only of the forwards that looked even remotely dangerous, drawing four fouls for his team.
Rating: 4.0
CF Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema quite clearly should not have played this game. To be frank, it was arrogant for Benz to push himself to start. I understand why he did, but he was not even at 50 percent effectiveness, and his presence in the starting lineup for 87 minutes held his team back. You cannot tell me that Gareth Bale or Luka Jovic would have done worse than Benz.
And Carlo Ancelotti must shoulder some responsibility, too. He could have easily been firm to Benzema and said, “No, we are going with the medical staff. You are not playing. It is not worth the risk and we have other options.”
Rating: 3.0
RW Marco Asensio
All three members of the Real Madrid attack were subbed early, and that pretty much sums up how woefully ineffective the Madrid attack was. Marco Asensio was the worst of the trio, hence why he was subbed out first. He offered nothing offensively and struggled to track back to help Dani Carvajal against Kylian Mbappe. Par for the course, unfortunately, for a player who cannot help the team beyond his sweet strikes from distance.
Rating: 2.0