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Real Madrid go level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona as they salvaged a 1-1 draw against Valencia in an exciting clash at the Estadio de Mestalla on Sunday night.
Zinedine Zidane's men walked into the game confidently and dominated the early exchanges with the hosts looking comfortable letting their opponents break them down as they focused on counter-attacks.
The game came to life in the final 20 minutes as Carlos Soler broke the deadlock with an eight-yard effort 12 minutes from time. However, just when it was beginning to look like Los Ches would take home all three points, Karim Benzema struck home a dramatic late goal to salvage a point for the Madrid giants.
The win extends Real Madrid's unbeaten run to 11 games, having won eight of them and drawn three. They will now turn their attention to Wednesday's El Clasico as they hope to get the better of arch-rivals Barcelona, who dropped points against Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Without further ado, we take a look at three reasons why Real Madrid and Valencia ended up sharing the spoils:
#3 Valencia's compact formation frustrated the visitors
Albert Celades took the cautious road against Real Madrid as he opted for a more compact 4-1-4-1 formation over a 4-4-2. It was no surprise that Valencia prioritized their defence considering the absences in their attacking line with strikers Maxi Gomez and Kevin Gameiro both missing the clash due to injuries.
The Spaniard made three key changes to the squad that established a crucial win over Ajax in the Champions League in midweek, one of which was dropping a striker for the safety of a defender.
Los Ches remained out of possession for most of the first half but managed to stifle their opponents' advances with their tight formation and mostly looked for opportunities to counter-attack instead of foraying forward. Their tactical play subsequently forced Real Madrid to be patient with their build-up as they continued to create chances before the break albeit without much success.
Also check out: La Liga La Liga fixtures La liga table 2019-20
#2 Real Madrid left to rue their missed chances early on
Real Madrid, who came into the match knowing that a win could propel them to the top of the league table, took the game by the scruff of the neck early on and created several chances. The likes of Federico Valverde and Toni Kroos kept Valencia goalkeeper Jaume Domenech busy as Los Ches really found themselves on the back foot in the opening exchanges.
Despite coming close to breaking the deadlock in the first half, Real Madrid failed to find the back of the net as Valencia withheld Los Blancos’ early onslaught and slowly took charge of the proceedings.
It seemed like the hosts would return home with all three points after Carlos Soler gave them the lead in the 78th minute, but Karim Benzema’s last-gasp equaliser helped Real Madrid spare the blushes.
Unfortunately, the result was not enough for Zinedine Zidane’s team to leapfrog Barcelona into pole position; it could have been a completely different story had Real Madrid capitalised on their early opportunities.
#3 Thibaut Courtois made his presence felt on the opposite end of the pitch
Thibaut Courtois has frequently been at the end of harsh criticism owing to his inconsistent displays following his move from Chelsea in the summer of 2018. The Belgian international has made 18 appearances in all competitions for Real Madrid this season, managing just eight clean sheets. Despite failing to keep a shut-out against Valencia, he really cannot be blamed for Carlos Soler’s opener.
The 27-year-old made his presence felt in the game in a rather surprising way. The former Blues shot-stopper was seen running down to Valencia’s penalty box when the visitors were awarded a corner kick, as the game moved into injury-time and Los Blancos were trailing by a goal. It’s not uncommon to see teams throwing their goalkeeper into the mix when they are in search of a goal late on, and even when they do, the gamble usually doesn’t pay off.
This time, however, Courtois actually played a key role in his side's late equaliser as he headed Gareth Bale’s corner kick towards the goal, only to be denied by his Valencia counterpart Jaume Domenech. Los Ches ultimately failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Karim Benzema, who made no mistake in slotting it home from close range.
It remains to be seen if Courtois’ heroics on the other end of the pitch manage to boost his confidence between the sticks in the coming games.
