After failing to beat either Girona or Mallorca in La Liga while losing both legs of the Champions League quarterfinals to storied European rivals Bayern Munich, Real Madrid finally got back to winning ways on Tuesday night at the Santiago Bernabeu with a 2-1 result over Deportivo Alaves. Here are three stars who rose to the occasion for Los Blancos.
AM Arda Guler
It doesn't really matter where Arda Guler starts in the Real Madrid lineup. This young man is simply going to make plays, and Kylian Mbappe owes a large number of his goals and his future Pichichi Trophy to the Turkish playmaker, who has been a significantly better player than the highly paid Frenchman this season.
Guler assisted the opener and created a total of three chances. He scrapped in the battles in possession against Deportivo Alaves, showing real tenacity against a tough team. His passing was close to flawless while still being risky enough to generate great chances, and Guler's range of passing deserves more praise.
ST Kylian Mbappe
Amidst intense criticism, Kylian Mbappe stepped up to the plate, and while his shooting volume still doesn't quite match the production of one goal, the 27 year old was far more dynamic and threatening than in recent outings.
Mbappe scored, created four chances, and completed five dribbles with some scintillating one-on-one runs. He needs to defend more and cut down on his laziness with how often he gets flagged for offsides, but this was a great performance from Mbappe as an overall attacking threat up front.
LW Vinicius Junior
Vinicius Junior was even better, scoring a goal straight out of the top drawer in the second half that proved to be the winner for Real Madrid after underrated Alaves striker Toni Martinez pulled one back to run Andriy Lunin's clean sheet.
The Brazilian forward created a whopping five chances and won five dribbles, and it really does feel like most of Real's best opportunities and passages of attacking play come when the 25-year-old is meeting defenders head on. And for a guy who had five dribbles completed and three fouls drawn, he rarely lost the ball, too.
As with Mbappe, the one area of valid criticism for Vinicius Jr. is that he needs to be doing more to help his fullback out defensively, as he has fallen into the same lazy habits of his new superstar teammate, which frustrates Madridistas.
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