Real Madrid vs Gremio: Player Ratings

And so it has happened. Real Madrid have won the Club World Cup for the second time in a row and four times in their history, making them the most successful club in the tournament. Previously, the Spanish giants held the record jointly with the Catalan giants, Barcelona, but their 2-1 win against Gremio sees them overtake their bitter rivals.

In a game where the Spanish champions played very well, showing glimpses of the brilliance they oozed last season, some brilliant individual performances from Gremio goalkeeper, Marcelo, and defender, Geromel, ensured that the European champions didn’t score freely.

However, a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, each, helped the Galacticos win the tournament and retain the trophy. Here is how the players fared in the game…

Gremio

Marcelo – 8.5/10

The shotstopper was great whenever called upon and was one of the reasons why the Whites couldn’t score more.

Edilson – 6/10

Put in a very good defensive shift, but couldn’t offer much going forward.

Pedro Geromel – 9/10

In one phrase: God-mode defending from the Brazilian. Should be on the plane to Russia next year.

Kannemann – 6/10

Geromel had to cover up a some of the errors done by him, but he gave his partner decent support.

Cortez – 6/10

Decent game, especially in defending, but couldn’t exploit the flanks in attack.

Jailson – 4/10

Dull and uninspiring. Madrid midfield overran him with relative ease.

Michel – 4/10

Read the review for Jailson.

Ramiro – 4/10

Read the review for Michel.

Luan – 5/10

He tried, but one could only do so much without any support from the midfield.

Fernandinho – 5/10

Like Luan, he just didn’t get enough support from the midfield.

Lucas Barrios – 5/10

The former Dortmund star couldn’t do much because of the aforementioned reasons.

Subs

No notable performances.

Real Madrid

Keylor Navas – 6/10

He didn’t play poorly, but he really had nothing to do for almost the entire game. However, he did his job well whenever called upon.

Dani Carvajal – 7/10

The Spanish right-back was caught out of position at times, but made up for it with his blistering pace. He was also a strong presence while attacking from the right flank, giving the Blancos much-needed width when playing the diamond with Isco in the middle.

Raphael Varane – 8/10

A solid performance from the Frenchman ensured a clean sheet for the Galacticos. His blazing pace, in particular, was very impressive and helped his club avoid potentially tricky situation even before they arose.

Sergio Ramos – 6/10

Still showed the bad habit of getting drawn out of position and leaving a gap in the backline. Varane’s awareness made sure that his over-zealous nature didn’t hurt Madrid. A good game otherwise.

Marcelo – 7/10

The Brazilian was almost entirely in Gremio’s half for much of the game and gave their defence a lot of problems with his attacking flair.

Casemiro – 8/10

A really wonderful game for the Brazilian as he didn’t allow Gremio’s midfielders a moment’s piece in the middle. Provided the platform for the other midfielders to shine.

Luka Modric – 9/10

He was connected to almost everything that Real Madrid did tonight and was the fulcrum of the game. The best player of the game tonight.

Toni Kroos – 7/10

A decent game for the former Bayern Munich man. Neat passes ensured possession retention.

Isco – 8/10

The reason why the diamond worked for the first time this season was because Isco was at his best tonight.

Cristiano Ronaldo – 8/10

Wasn’t up to the standards he has shown us in his Real career, but his superb freekick goal brought glory to the club.

Karim Benzema – 5/10

Apart from the one move where he headed the ball back to Cristiano, which was then ruled out offside, he was… well… just below average.

Subs

No notable performances.