As Zinedine Zidane arrests Real Madrid’s patchy form with a morale-boosting 7-1 win over tricky Galician side Celta Vigo, here’s having a look at the player ratings of the match.
Real Madrid
Keylor Navas (6.5/10)
The Costa Rican was relatively untroubled throughout the length of the game, called upon to make one difficult stop when Nolito played Iago Aspas in during the first half. His reaction to the one-on-one against Aspas leading up to Celta’s sole goal was worrying, and Navas would wish he’d have charged to rob Aspas of possession instead of allowing him a chip shot.
Dani Carvajal (6.5/10)
Troubled by Nolito on occasion on expected lines, given the Celta winger is probably enjoying the best form of his career. Turned in a solid performance otherwise, with his communication with fellow defenders leaving little to be desired. Replaced by a recovering Marcelo after Real built a lead commanding enough.
Pepe: (8/10)
Generally clean on defence, with his communication with longtime defensive partner Sergio Ramos being of high quality. His goal towards the end of the first half proved decisive, shifting the balance of the game completely in favour of the home side with a very well placed header.
Sergio Ramos: (7/10)
The Spaniard maintained control in the defensive area, apart from the rare, odd foray by Celta. Blameless for Celta’s only goal due to the sheer quality of the assist. His occasionally wayward tackling still remains a bane, and Zidane would do well to channelise Ramos’ energy towards more productive outlets with key fixtures approaching.
Danilo (6/10)
A left-field selection by Zidane, playing him on the wrong flank paid off fairly well eventually. Despite looking slightly suspect on defence, he made promising runs into space on attack, and should settle gradually as time passes. Held his own to play out the 90 minutes despite the introduction of first-choice left-back Marcelo later in the game.
Mateo Kovacic (7/10)
Slotted in fairly well for the absent Modric, not making the absence of the Croatian felt. Played a more controlling role, giving Isco the licence to bomb forward and join the attack on occasion.
Casemiro (7.5/10)
Showed once again why he is regarded as one of the more promising defensive midfielders in the league. Allowed the Real midfield to maintain a vice-like grip over the proceedings, particularly after the team settled in during the second half.
Isco (7.5/10)
Another heartwarming performance from the Spaniard, who has often gone under-appreciated at Real Madrid. Brought in power to the midfield, and played a key role towards offensive buildups, before making way for Gareth Bale in the 65th minute.
Lucas Vazquez (7/10)
Despite the day clearly belonging to Cristiano’s exploits, the Madrid youth product held his own fairly well, and supplemented Carvajal decently.
Borja Mayoral (7/10)
In for the absent Karim Benzema, Mayoral showed promise in his movements and positioning, and would be sad not to have grabbed a goal. Shows signs of taking the pressure of playing for the club fairly well, despite being only 18.
Cristiano Ronaldo (10/10)
Entrusted with the responsibility of shouldering the attack, the Portuguese fired all cylinders, pumping in four goals, with his first two notably standing out, having been struck from outside the box (one off a free-kick). Showed decent signs of athleticism with his third goal (a header), despite niggling complaints about a slight loss of pace in the opinion of experts. Gave Madrid a scare around the 70th, when a Hugo Mallo tackle appeared to have injured him, only to recover and play on with no signs of discomfort.
Substitutes
Gareth Bale (6.5/10)
Scored a personally vital goal and showed all signs of his pace being intact on return from injury, giving Zidane a shot in the arm with key fixtures approaching.
Jesé Rodriguez (6/10)
Added another goal towards the end, displaying neat control to hold off Hugo Mallo and finish past the goalkeeper. Continues to make a strong case for more game time. A loan move in future could help him develop further.
Marcelo (N/A)
Got a few minutes on the recovery trail with the game well beyond Celta, hardly tested.
Celta Vigo
Ruben Blanco (5.5/10)
Blameless for at least four of Real’s goals, which were unstoppable due to the sheer quality of the strikes. A poor defensive performance in the second half left him woefully exposed.
Jonny Castro (2.5/10)
Left totally clueless in the second half, having proved equal to the task of keeping Cristiano in check in the first half. Eventually failed to prevent the Portuguese forward from wreaking havoc on Celta. A poor performance by partner Hugo Mallo did not help matters.
Hugo Mallo (3/10)
A poor performance, failing to back up Jonny with Cristiano running wild, a tendency not helped by his own wayward tackling. Celta could do well with better defensive leadership in its quest to reach European competition.
Sergi Gomez (4.5/10)
Looked good on the ball in the first half, showing good distributive skills. Could do little to stem the collective defensive meltdown which occurred in the second half, eventually seeming to have switched off after Real scored their fourth.
Carles Planas (4/10)
Similar to left-sided partner Gomez, did well but could do little as the right side failed to back them up, before eventually seeming to switch off when the deficit became too large.
Daniel Wass (3.5/10)
Failed to break Madrid’s supremacy in midfield in the second half, a skill which could’ve proved vital with Mallo and Jonny misfiring.
Marcelo Diaz (4/10)
Did fairly well to prevent Kovacic from proving too much of an offensive threat, but proved helpless when Celta were outnumbered in midfield during the second half.
Fabio Orellana (4.5/10)
Along with Nolito, was good in patches when Celta were able to bring the ball forward. However, a failure to track back and aid the defence against Cristiano Ronaldo will surely give Celta a few sleepless nights
Pablo Hernandez (4/10)
Largely anonymous, substituted in the 35th minute with no real damage to his reputation
Nolito (4.5/10)
Celta’s breakout performer this season did fairly well in possession, winning his battle more often than not against Carvajal in the first half, before being a mute spectator as Madrid took the second half by storm.
Iago Aspas (5.5/10)
The former Liverpool man proved something of a threat to the Real defence for a good part of the game, beautifully chipping Navas to score Celta’s loan goal. Blameless as the defence floundered in the second half, before making way for Guidetti
Substitutes
Nemanja Radoja (4.5/10)
Linked up well with Aspas post arrival, proving a decent creative threat in unfavourable conditions away from home.
John Guidetti (3.5/10)
An inexplicable substitution for a well-performing Aspas, did little to challenge Real’s dominance in the second half.
Claudio Beauvue (N/A)
Brought in for Daniel Wass to spearhead a late attack, could do little as Celta failed to bring the ball out of their own half for a good part of the final 20 minutes.
