La Liga 2017-18: Alaves 1-2 Real Madrid - Player Ratings

Real Madrid

Ceballos' brace made the difference

Keylor Navas – 7/10

The Real Madrid shot-stopper had a decent game. While there was hardly anything he could have done to keep Manu Garcia’s header from going in, he ensured that his side remained in the lead with a solid showing in one on one situation.

Dani Carvajal – 6/10

With no real replacement for the player at the club, Carvajal’s performance might come as a worrying sign for Real Madrid fans. While he was tidy with his passing throughout the game, he failed to add to his side’s attacking threat and was also vulnerable at the back. He received a deserved caution in the 32nd minute and with a lot of game set to come thick and fast, Zinedine Zidane might have to find a solution to this emerging problem at the earliest.

Raphael Varane - 7/10

Varane was another of Real Madrid defenders who had a mixed evening. While he was seen making crucial interceptions and clearances at times, it was the French defender who was at fault as he failed to react to Haddadi’s cross for Garcia to thump home. His night could have gone from bad to worse had his failed clearance that led to a chance for Pedraza late in the game gone in.

Sergio Ramos – 6/10

While he did have a few moments of defensive lapses, he managed to ensure that Alaves could not capitalise on the same and led the defence, albeit in an average manner. However, he was at fault for missing a glorious opportunity from three yards out late in the game as Real sought to put the game to the bed. While scoring goals isn’t his forte, being a defender, we expected the Real Madrid man to finish the move that could have saved us all the drama that surrounded the game towards the end of it.

Nacho – 7/10

Nacho was perhaps Real’s best defender on the evening. While he was at fault for Alaves’ goal as he failed to deal with Haddadi, his runs down the left-flank ensured that the Alaves defenders were kept busy through the game. His movement on and off the ball created pockets of spaces for his teammates to exploit and he constantly stretched the Alaves defence with his runs down the flank.

Casemiro – 7.5/10

Considering that it was a terrible evening for the Real defence, Casemiro performed admirably to plug the leaks that appeared in the Real defence. He was tidy with the ball at his feet, constantly looked to create chances for his teammates while also ensuring that he kept the Alaves midfield occupied as he looked to control the tempo alongside the likes of Isco and Ceballos. Casemiro has always been a player that disrupts the opposition’s rhythm and he did so yet again with a few crucial tackles to hand his side a mini-victory in the centre of the park.

Dani Cabellos – 9/10

It was his first La Liga start for Real Madrid and Dani Ceballos, who joined Real Madrid from Real Betis in 2017 did not disappoint his manager. He scored the all-important brace to hand his side an advantage in the game and remained a threat to the Alaves defence until he was replaced by Marcos Llorente in the 71st minute.

He partnered Isco as the side’s central midfield pairing and while the duo might have gotten off to a rather tame start, especially in comparison to the side’s regular pairing of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, they proved to be a handful for the Alaves defence.

This was perhaps the best game to hand him his first start as a Real player and now that he has repaid his manager’s faith in full, we expect him to get more game time in a season that promises to be lengthy and arduous.

Isco – 7.5/10

It was not until the 20-minute mark that Isco really arrived into the game. He had been an onlooker until then but once he had his foot in the game, he ensured that he left a mark of his own. He was Real’s best player alongside Ceballos and created 4 chances in the 90 minutes that he was on the pitch to give his side the cutting edge in the attack.

Lucas Vazquez – 6/10

The thing about Lucas is that while he can be an absolute joy to watch when he goes on his runs, his decision remains poor to this day and is perhaps undermining his skills as a footballer. Against Alaves, the attacker yet again twisted and turned his way out of precarious situations but subsequently disappointed his teammates with his choice of passes and that was the story through the evening.

Given his potential, it is perhaps time Zidane had a long talk with the attacker about his final product and what they could do together to improve it.

Cristiano Ronaldo – 7/10

While Cristiano Ronaldo had the least touches (25) amongst the Real Madrid players who started the game, he was surprisingly involved a lot in the build-up to his side’s attack. It was his flick to Asensio that created Real’s opening goal and the Portuguese superstar was always willing to bring his teammates into the game.

However, it must be noted that he still looks rusty, especially by his standards and will need more game time to hit the ground running yet again.

Marco Asensio – 7/10

After being announced as the best U-21 player by the French football magazine L’Equipe, all eyes were on Asensio as he was handed another start by Zinedine Zidane and the up and coming Spanish superstar was a joy to watch. He linked up excellently with the likes of Ceballos (with whom he has been involved extensively in the Spanish youth teams) as well as Isco and constantly poked and probed the Alaves defence in order to improve on his side’s goal tally on the evening.

It was Asensio who assisted Ceballos’ opening goal thus taking opening his assists account for the season.

Substitutes

Marcos Llorente – 6/10

Llorente was introduced in the 71st minute for Ceballos. However, the 22-year-old failed to replicate Ceballos performance. On the overall, it was a healthy 19 minutes for the midfielder.

Borja Mayoral – NA