#2. Substitutes light up the game for both managers
The teams went into half-time with the score equally poised at 1-1, but there was no hiding from the fact that Real had allowed Palmas back into the game just 5 minutes after taking the lead.
Zidane decided to shuffle things up when he brought on Benzema for Asensio five minutes after the hour mark had passed. The Frenchman’s introduction saw a marked shift, with Real suddenly jolted to life. The Blancos attacked from all sides with a hitherto unseen urgency and needless to say it paid dividends.
After some slick passing in midfield, Ronaldo shot at the net from a tight angle but Palmas keeper Javi Varas punched away the effort instead of keeping hold of the ball. Benzema gratefully accepted the scuffed effort and made no mistake with the rebound – Real had taken the lead again.
Quique Setien, Zidane’s opposite number, reacted quickly to the Blancos’ lead. Sergio Araujo came on in the 68th minute for the ineffective Momo and began to create problems for Real’s defence almost immediately.
With six minutes to go, Pedro Tana’s ball into the box was headed down superbly by Gomez into Araujo’s path; he rounded off Casilla and managed to score from an almost impossible angle even as Real’s defenders came sliding in to keep the ball from hitting the net.
Both managers had effective options coming on from the bench which had a notable impact on the game.
