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Away wins in the Basque country do not come easier than this. After three ruthless goals in the first half (2 from Benzema, 1 from James Rodriguez) the cherry on top of the pretty easy-to-bake cake that Zidane had cooking at the unusually subdued Ipurua. In the second half, Eibar showed their spine by getting a goal back through Ruben Pena, but by then Marco Asensio had already scored and as the ever-brilliant Sunny Sagar had said in his live commentary, the game had been killed off at the hour mark by that goal.
Here are the five things we learnt from a game that failed to live up to expectations, at least from Eibar’s side.
The performance of the second-string for Madrid show their class in depth
Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez and James Rodriguez are second-string, whether the expensive Colombian wants to admit it or not. They, though, showed that Madrid's second string is still good enough to take out a team that is 7th in the league and score 4 against a team that hadn't conceded more than three goals the whole season (this includes a game against a full strength Barcelona). James showed that he is regaining his form, and his subtle class on the ball shown through while both Asensio and Vazquez showed the hunger that every coach wants to see from the youngsters in his squad. They allied this hunger with some great football on the pitch, and what more could you really ask for as a coach?
Danilo, meanwhile, was impressive defensively – a rarity since he’s turned out for Los Blancos and Pepe made good use of his return to find his feet and put in a couple of meaty tackles. Nacho Fernandez’s versatility, meanwhile, came to the fore as he kept the dangerous Pedro Leon quite all day (and allowed Zidane to rest Marcelo). Well, almost all day - that goal was more down to a show of skill from Leon than a lack of it from Nacho.
Eibar not up to their usual standard as fatigue shows
Eibar are not in the same atmospheric level as Real Madrid – the stadium is a mere fraction of the Bernabeu, the club has nothing in terms of monetary resources when compared to their more illustrious opponents... but the one thing that hurt them today was the sheer lack of squad depth. Mendilibar could rest just two of the men he started in that fierce derby against Real Sociedad on Wednesday, and that showed. Eibar lacked their usual tempo in passing and ferociousness in tackle, especially in the first half, and it was understandable that they couldn’t really employ their full-court press against what was an admittedly second string Madrid side.
Nobody really expected them to win this, though, and they remain 7th – and in the hunt for a much deserved European spot.
Karim Benzema steps up to the plate when it matters
How often do we forget the middle B of that famed BBC trio? With Gareth Bale sitting out this game (and the next) on the naughty step, and Cristiano Ronaldo being rolled up in cotton to protect him for the Napoli game, it was all down to Karim Benzema... and he didn’t disappoint. He took his goals smartly but that wasn’t the most encouraging bit. Playing alongside Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez, one would have forgiven him for playing the “Emperor” and asking the ball to be fed to him, but he ran the channels and was a constant menace with his off-the-ball movement... much like the Benzema that wowed Perez at Olympique Lyonnais. On the day he allayed the fears of the majority and proved that “No Ronaldo, No Problem”
This is promising for Zidane as he will look to his superstars, his answer to MSN, to step up to the plate in this mother of all run-ins to the title.
Ander Capa shows why Barcelona want him
The right back prevented his side from going behind within the minute by timing his tackle on Karim Benzema to perfection. Not at fault for the four goals conceded, Capa was one of the sole bright spots of an exceptionally disappointing Eibar performance and bombed forward with poise whenever he could. It was his combination with Pedro Leon that created the sole goal for the home side, and he was as defensively sound as he has been in the past few games.
Sure, Barcelona have been linked with any half-decent right back after their recent struggles in the position that the great Dani Alves vacated, but this could be the real deal. Just 25 years old, the Basque is ever-improving and is hitting peak form. He would perfect for the current Barcelona team.
Casemiro’s yellow could have massive repercussions in the title race
The Brazilian had another solid game - does Casemiro have any other kind of games? - but he did pick up a yellow card. 'So what’ I can hear you mutter, ‘ it's just a yellow in a 4-1 win!’. Yes, yes, it is, and it didn’t really affect this game, but it could have massive repercussions in the title race. That’s because he will now be banned for one game. And that game’s against Athletic Bilbao.
At San Mames.
The Basques are a ferocious outfit, especially at home, and without the steel that Casemiro adds to their midfield, Madrid may well be overwhelmed by the swarming mass of red and white. That match, one of the toughest in Madrid’s ridiculously tough run-in to El Clasico could well have a seismic effect at the top of the table
Meanwhile, a word of appreciation for Luka Modric. Even the notoriously hard-to-please Eibar faithul gave the little Croat a standing ovation, and when he was on the pitch, Eibar barely touched the ball as he pinged the ball hither and thither at will.
The man is pure class.
