Celta Vigo 1-2 Real Madrid: Player Ratings as Courtois, penalties save the day

CM Toni Kroos

Toni Kroos was, for my money, Real Madrid’s best midfielder in this match before being subbed off in the final minutes for Dani Ceballos. The ex-Bayern man completed a little over 94 percent of a team-high 69 pass attempts, including nine of nine long balls. There is no pass that Kroos cannot make, as he showed several times in this match. His composure and defensive contributions were solid, though, like his teammate Luka Modric, you wonder if a better tactical structure would have helped the 32-year-old provide more end product for his teammates. Kroos has, in all honesty, suffered quite a bit from Zinedine Zidane leaving.

Rating: 7.0

DM Casemiro

Casemiro had a whopping seven clearances and even added a pair of key passes. He played decently enough, though you get the feeling that his lack of ball security is always going to hold Real Madrid back. Real are having a crisis of identity in how they want to play, and with their propensity for sitting back and lacking control, that actually highlights Casemiro’s weakness on the ball even more. It puts him in more situations where he could potentially gift the other team opportunities, and that does not play to his strengths offensively.

Rating: 6.5

CM Luka Modric

Taken out in the 73rd minute for the young Fede Valverde, Luka Modric didn’t have a banner game against Celta Vigo. That’s not to say he was bad – he rarely is – but the man who was decisive for Croatia over the international fixtures did not have nearly the same impact for his club at Balaidos. He drew three fouls and completed about 94 percent of his 49 pass attempts, but, as has happened so often this season, he spent much of the game dribbling through crowds and managing crises than rather creating or controlling. Modric forced one good save, but you wonder if Fede would have been better as the starter in this specific matchup.

Rating: 6.0