Elche 1-1 Real Madrid: 5 talking points as Los Blancos falter away from home | La Liga 2020-21

#3 Elche's winless run continues but they prove good value for a point against Real Madrid

Elche held Real Madrid to a well-deserved draw

Elche came into this game on the back on an eight-game winless run in the league. Virtually nobody gave them a chance against Real Madrid in the pre-game analysis.

The difference in class between them and Los Blancos, as well as the champions' good run of form, meant that the capital side came into the game as overwhelming favourites.

Things seemed to be going to plan in the opening stages and when Modric put the visitors ahead, it looked like it would be one-way traffic.

📸🎩 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐄 🟢⚪️ pic.twitter.com/o44iltOlKa

— Elche Club de Fútbol 🌴 (@elchecf) December 30, 2020

However, the hosts rose from that initial setback and rallied to a well-deserved equaliser in the second half.

Despite playing against some of the biggest names in the world, the Valencians stuck to their gameplan and executed it to perfection.

The point was enough to take Elche one point clear of the relegation places, and Daniel Mato would hope his side can build on this positive result against the champions.

#2 VAR shows its usefulness

Real Madrid had a penalty rightly revoked thanks to VAR

Ever since VAR became a permanent fixture in the game of football, the technology has divided opinions in almost equal measure.

Detractors point to controversial decisions and time wastage as reasons for its discontinuance, while supporters opine that it has helped eliminate refereeing errors.

In the game between Elche and Real Madrid, it was a case of the latter, as VAR helped overturn what would have been a highly controversial penalty.

A scramble in the box 37 minutes into the game saw the referee point to the penalty spot for a Real Madrid spot-kick amidst loud shouts of complaints by the Elche players.

As it happened, the ball had actually struck the arm of Karim Benzema in that passage of play, and VAR rightly pointed this out to the referee, leading him to change his initial decision.

This proved to be invaluable at the final whistle, because if Real Madrid had converted the penalty and gone 2-0 up, it was highly improbable that Elche would have gotten back into the game.

In a title race that looks likely to be decided by small margins, this error might have played a crucial role in deciding the season but VAR was on hand to ensure that justice was served.

#1 Real Madrid weak link Marcelo exploited by Elche

Marcelo was a weak link in defence

In the buildup to this clash, Zinedine Zidane admitted that Marcelo could leave Real Madrid owing to his lack of playing time.

💬 Zidane: "We had chances and all that was missing was the second goal."#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/LxUpInOKm6

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) December 30, 2020

The Brazilian was subsequently handed his first start since the 2-1 loss to Alaves in November but he hardly gave a performance to justify his place in the starting line-up.

Marcelo has been one of the greatest servants to Real Madrid. In his prime, he was by far the best left-back in the world but his performances have slowly declined in recent years.

Time and again, he has proven to be a weak link in the defence, evidenced by the fact that he has been present in all 10 La Liga defeats suffered by Los Blancos since Zidane returned to the helm in 2019.

His struggles at the back have become common knowledge, and Mato charged his players to focus their attacks on the Real Madrid left, with Rigoni the chief instigator of Elche's attacks.

Time and again, the Argentine got the better of his fellow South American. Almost all the chances created by Elche came when the 32-year-old was caught out of position.

In total, Marcelo lost possession 16 times for Real Madrid and looked tired towards the dying stages of the game, which laid further credence to those who believe he should not be part of the starting team.