Goals from Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez helped Real Madrid to a very comfortable 4-0 victory over Granada in La Liga last night, ensuring that Los Blancos still hold the upper hand, keeping in mind their game in hand.
All of the major talking points came in the first half, as Zinedine Zidane’s men cruised into the interval with a four-goal advantage, with a strong, energetic start from the visitors proving too much for Tony Adams’ side to handle.
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Granada were forced to make a very early substitution to change their system on the night in Andalusia, but by then the damage had already been done, with Real Madrid’s second string side showing their talent once again.
Even after making wholesale changes on the night, the favourites for the league title were far superior to the already relegated hosts, who were glad to finally hear the referee’s full-time whistle.
(All players are rated out of 10)
Granada
Guillermo Ochoa - 6
Made a few strong saves to ensure that the scoreline didn’t get too embarrassing for the home side. Couldn’t do much about the goals, as the defending ahead of him was laughable in terms of quality.
Dimitri Foulquier - 5
Struggled to get up in support on the break, and really didn’t do well against Marco Asensio. The pace and skill of the youngster posed him problems, especially with Fabio Coentrao overlapping.
Sverrir Ingason - 5
Showed some nice instances of composure in difficult circumstances at times, but the Icelandic defender was part of a back four that offered little in the way of organisation, marking or general cohesion.
Martin Hongla - 4
Was outmuscled far too easily for Morata’s second goal of the evening. The young defender then compounded his miseries with a bad miss late in the game after getting up in support of a counter attack.
Gaston Silva - 2
Found himself out of position for the first two goals and had a forgettable night. Struggled to contend with Lucas Vazquez’s pace and invention out wide and will probably have nightmares about facing Real Madrid in the future.
Rene Krhin - 4
Weak performance from the Granada captain, who didn't offer the usual physicality and bite in central midfield that he’d normally contribute. Very poor in possession and really struggled in the first half as play just bypassed him entirely.
Victorien Angban - 6
Was keen to get on the ball and put in a lot of hard work in midfield to try and contend with a far superior opposition. Did show a few instances of nice technical ability and composure in possession.
Aly Malle - 5
Substituted off very early, as Tony Adams wanted to make a tactical change in which he sacrificed the pacy winger for an extra central midfielder in the form of Uche Agbo.
Andreas Pereira - 4
Poor evening for the young loanee, who didn’t even manage to offer any threat from his set-piece deliveries or free kicks. Showed what he can do in very brief flashes, but didn’t have any consistency about his play.
Isaac Cuenca - 5
Worked hard to try and offer an outlet on either flank, but he didn’t have a lot of options to aim for in the penalty box when got into a decent area to deliver a cross. Tracked back often to help out his struggling defence.
Adrian Ramos - 4
Lacked a killer touch in and around the box, and often took far too long on the ball. Couldn’t seem to offer any kind of sharpness, with Sergio Ramos having a fairly easy time in preventing the Colombian forward from having a shot on goal without any pressure.
Substitutes
Uche Agbo - 6
Worked tirelessly to recover the ball in midfield and was very bright and keen to move forward in possession whenever he got the chance. A bright spark in an otherwise poor Granada performance.
David Lomban - 5
Granada did tighten up and looked a lot more cohesive after his introduction at the half-time break, but the experienced defender didn’t offer anything stand-out. A steady showing.
Juanan Entrena - 5
Offered fresh legs and some youthful energy for the last nine minutes of normal time, racking up one of the quickest sprint figures on the pitch.
Real Madrid
Kiko Casilla - 7
Didn’t have a great deal to do, but when called upon he was solid and composed. Commanded his area fairly well and didn’t ever parry the ball into dangerous areas of his own penalty box.
Danilo - 7
Did cause problems when overlapping down the right-hand side and provided a lovely assist for Morata’s first goal of the evening with a cut-back from the byline. Didn’t have any problems defensively either.
Nacho - 7
Kept Adrian Ramos fairly quiet and showed his experience at times to earn some free kicks for his team when Granada were trying to put some heavy pressure on. Another solid performance from the Spanish defender.
Sergio Ramos - 7
Missed one great chance to get on the scoresheet late on, but was defensively sound. Ensured that Adrian Ramos wasn’t given much breathing space in and around the box, and the Real Madrid captain was always an aerial threat in set pieces.
Fabio Coentrao - 7
Provided his first assist for the club in four years and put in 90 minutes on a rare occasion. Very neat and tidy on the ball and linked up well with Marco Asensio down the left-hand side.
Casemiro - 7
A steady and simple game for the Brazilian midfielder, who didn’t need to be at his combative and cynical best in a contest that didn’t require such effort. Calm on the ball and simply passed it to players who wanted to break with pace.
Mateo Kovacic - 7
Did well to shield his back four and to come back and help defensively when Granada got their tails up for a little while in the second half. Very comfortable outing for the central midfielder, all told.
James Rodriguez - 8
Scored twice in the first 11 minutes of the game, though the first was more through being in the right place at the right time than anything else. His second was a neat header and the Colombian was a nuisance when cutting in from the right-hand side.
Lucas Vazquez - 8
Linked up really well with Danilo down the right-hand side and was instrumental in the opening goal. His pace and movement always looked to stretch the hosts and ensure that their back four was constantly stretched.
Alvaro Morata - 8.5
Took his goals very well, with the second highlighting his bullish physicality that he can offer when leading the line. Was very unselfish in his play, and made yet another claim as to why he can offer plenty as a starting striker under Zidane.
Marco Asensio - 7
Always a threat on the counter-attack due to the sheer speed that he can carry possession at, and he did pick up an easy assist for himself on the night. Combined nicely with the overlapping presence of Coentrao at times, too.
Substitutes
Karim Benzema - 6
Got into the right areas to cause problems, but his finishing let him down. Found himself being quite selfish at the wrong times, as it was evident that the Frenchman wanted to prove himself to Zidane.
Isco - 7
Slotted into the centre of midfield seamlessly and did his usual deeds. Ghosted past some players as though they weren’t even there, as he eased his way through the final 20 minutes of the game.
Mariano Diaz - 7
Laid through a lovely pass for Benzema late on, which the French striker should have scored from, with the energetic substitute doing his very best to offer incisive contributions when drifting in from the right.
