A week away from El Clásico, Real Madrid continue to prove their goalscoring capability. 30 goals in 8 matches for Los Blancos, an outrageous number for most teams to achieve. Anfield on Wednesday and Barça on Saturday are their next fixtures. Today, Real needed to win the three points, and after an international break, it’s never easy. Against a weak Levante, they dominated the entire match and went home with a 0-5 win.
GK, Iker Casillas: 6/10
He didn’t have a lot of work and didn’t fail in too many opportunities. However, in a play that could’ve meant Levante’s equalizer, he didn’t even react to the shot. Luckily for him, Modrić was right there to clear it and maintain the lead.
DEF, Dani Carvajal: 6.5/10
Not as active in attack as usual, but stayed strong in defense. Decent match from the La Fábrica man. His effort was enough to keep a clean sheet, and with the busy week that’s coming, it’s best that he didn’t risk too much.
DEF, Pepe: 7/10
Solved every problem very well. Easy day for the Portuguese. He often had to make up for his partner’s mistakes, still nothing horrible happened. With Ramos working to be fit for El Clásico, Pepe’s good form is extremely important.
DEF, Nacho Fernández: 6/10
Didn’t take advantage of the 90 minutes as well as he has before. He had to cover Marcelo regularly, and maybe it was too much for him to handle. Overall, a decent showing, yet not enough to make a statement.
DEF, Marcelo: 5.5/10
Mediocre day from the left back. The weakest from all the defenders. His contribution in attack wasn’t important, and his usual tactical mistakes compromised Nacho. Coentrão’s still with physical problems, so Marcelo needs to step it up.
MID, Luka Modrić: 7.5/10
He was clearly fatigued after the international break. Nevertheless, he delivered a great performance. He saved the equalizer, had a chance to score and was very active. He ended up with some pain and gave his spot to Medrán.
MID, Toni Kroos: 7/10
Never a bad day from the German. He continues to perform well, without hogging the spotlight. It’s really remarkable how few mistakes he makes throughout a match. Illarra came in for him to give him some rest.
MID, Isco: 8.5/10
Worked tirelessly in recovering balls and going forward. One of his best matches as a Madridista. His usual flashes of magical touches and dribbles came often today. He sealed a great day with a fantastic goal.
ATT, James Rodríguez: 8.5/10
With Isco helping out in the midfield, he didn’t have to work as hard in defense. He gets better and better every day. He gave a plethora of wonderful passes, including an assist. He scored a wonderful goal as well.
ATT, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández: 8.5/10
Great day for “little pea.” He did what a striker’s supposed to do, and then some. He played the full 90 minutes and took advantage of it. He scored a great goal, gave his team a penalty and finished the day with an assist.
ATT, Cristiano Ronaldo: 9/10
He always plays like there’s no tomorrow. Scored a brace today, increasing his Pichichi stats to a record 15 goals in 8 matches. His toughest rivals are up ahead, and he doesn’t want to stop this great form.
Substitutes:
DEF, Álvaro Arbeloa: 6/10
Did better than Marcelo in defense, and had a few good chances in attack.
MID, Asier Illarramendi: 6/10
Came in with the match already solved. His contribution wasn’t relevant to the result.
MID, Álvaro Medrán: N/A
Not enough minutes to rate him. He made his debut in La Liga.
