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Real Madrid defeated Almeria 2-1 in their opening game of La Liga on Sunday, August 14.
The defending champions started their campaign away from home. Carlo Ancelotti fielded a team mixed with youth and experience as he chose to rest some of his senior stars. Real Madrid were keen to start their season off with a win.
The hosts, on the other hand, are newly promoted from the Segunda Division and looked eager to make a mark in La Liga. Almeria manager Rubi fielded a young starting XI with an average age of just 25.3 years. It was set to be a mouth-watering contest.
The hosts gave their visitors a guard of honor before kick-off as they are the defending La Liga champions.
Real Madrid made a slow start to the game as they misplaced passes and were dispossessed with relative ease by Almeria players. Nacho Fernandez and Antonio Rudiger started their first game together and their lack of co-ordination showed.
The hosts were the first to get on the scoresheet as Rudiger played Largie Ramazani onside after stepping-up too soon. The forward burst through on goal and finished with a well-hit drive that beat Thibaut Courtois. Conceding the goal woke Madrid up as they created three chances in the three minutes that followed.
Real Madrid continued to make errors and put Almeria in position to increase their lead. Federico Valverde had a few chances to score after getting into good areas, but failed to beat Fernando Martinez. Umar Sadiq had a few chances but squandered them.
Despite several chances, neither side could alter the scoresheet as Almeria went into the break with a deserved 1-0 lead over Real Madrid.
Almeria came out for the second half looking slightly sluggish as they spent the majority of the first period putting in maximum effort. Their offensive output suffered as a result, which allowed Real Madrid to create more chances and push higher up the field.
After several chances and a disallowed goal in the first half, Real finally equalized just after the hour-mark. Lucas Vazquez latched onto a short pass by Karim Benzema inside the box and scored with a drilled shot.
Ancelotti made a change shortly after as he removed Ferland Mendy and replaced him with David Alaba. The Austrian came on and scored a stunning free-kick with his first touch of the game to put the champions ahead.
Real Madrid held onto their lead as they started their campaign with a hard-fought three points against a spirited Almeria side. That said, let's take a detailed look at how Los Blancos' players performed.
Real Madrid Player Ratings
Thibaut Courtois - 7.5/10
Courtois was caught off-guard as Almeria broke through Real Madrid's lines early in the game following a defensive error. However, he quickly settled into the rhythm of the game. He made five saves throughout the contest and distributed the ball with 83% accuracy, including seven long passes.
Lucas Vazquez - 8/10
Vazquez looked comfortable in the right-back spot and often made overlapping runs to help his side create chances. He opened his side's scoring after making a smart run into the penalty area to be in the right place at the right moment to make it 1-1.
Antonio Rudiger - 7/10
Rudiger tried to play Almeria's attackers offside on multiple occasions. During one such attempt, he was caught out as Ramazani broke through and scored.
He passed the ball with 86% accuracy, including one key pass. Rudiger also played three long balls and attempted two shots - one on target, the other blocked.
Nacho Fernandez - 7/10
Fernandez struggled during the early exchanges in a new-look Real Madrid backline. He made two interceptions and blocked one shot. He also passed the ball with 97% accuracy and won three of his six duels.
Ferland Mendy - 6.5/10
Mendy made a decent start to the game and used his positional sense to great benefit on the left flank. He won four of his eight duels and made two tackles in the process. Mendy passed the ball with 97% accuracy, including two key passes. He was subbed off in the 74th minute.
Eduardo Camavinga - 6.5/10
Camavinga made a nervy start to the game in which Almeria hit the ground running right away. He often took too many touches, allowing the hosts to cut down the passing lanes.
He passed the ball with 95% accuracy, but only had 31 touches in 45 minutes despite playing in central midfield, and was also booked. He was replaced at the half-time interval.
Aurelien Tchouameni - 6.5/10
Tchouameni made a decent start to the game but failed to impose himself enough on proceedings. He passed the ball with 98% accuracy, including one key pass and one long ball. He also won three of his six duels, making two tackles in the process.
Toni Kroos - 8/10
Kroos was nearly at his passing best, distributing the ball with great technique and precision. He passed the ball with 96% accuracy, including five long balls, three key passes and three crosses. Kroos created one big chance and attempted three shots, two of which were on target and the other was blocked.
Federico Valverde - 8/10
Valverde was active in the first period as he attempted several strikes on goal, but could not score. He had four shots, all on target, but failed to score. He passed the ball with 96% accuracy, including four key passes and one long ball.
Vinicius Junior - 7.5/10
Vinicius made a loose start to the game and gave away possession cheaply on multiple occasions. He attempted four shots, with two on target and the other two blocked. The Brazilian missed one big chance as his strike rattled the woodwork. He also won five of his 10 ground duels.
Karim Benzema - 6.5/10
Benzema was passive in the first half but tried to help his teammates navigate out of tough spots by dropping deep to receive the ball. He attempted a whopping seven shots, with three on target, two off target and two shots blocked. In doing so, the marksman missed three big chances.
Substitutes
Luka Modric - 7/10
Modric was brought on during the half-time interval to replace Camavinga. He passed the ball with 91% accuracy for his 48 passes, including three long balls. He also won two of his four duels.
Eden Hazard - 7/10
Hazard replaced Tchouameni just before the hour-mark. He had a near-perfect game as he completed 20 passes, one dribble, and won two duels, all with 100% accuracy.
David Alaba - 8/10
Alaba came on in the 74th minute and scored what was the game winner with a brilliant curling free-kick that sailed into the top-right corner of the goal.
Dani Ceballos & Casemiro - N/A
They came on as late-game substitutes to help Real Madrid seal the result and did so. However, they did not play enough minutes to warrant a rating.
