Real Madrid 5-1 Sporting Gijon: 5 Talking Points

Real Madrid continued to shine under their new manager Zinedine Zidane as they followed up the 5-0 demolition of Deportivo last weekend with a 5-1 drubbing of Sporting Gijon at the Santiago Bernabeu, albiet, at the cost of Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema who limped off with fresh injury problems.In a breath-taking first-half, the Welshman opened the scoring in the eighth minute, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to double the lead two minutes later. Benzema soon followed suit to make it 3-0, before Ronaldo bagged his brace with an easy finish. Midfielder Isco then brilliantly teed up with Benzema, who got a double of his own, as the hosts took a commanding 5-0 lead at the break.Bale was substituted at half-time after the winger appeared to have injured his calf muscle whilst Benzema joined him in the dressing room midway through the second half with a knock to his toe. Their absence definitely cost the home side as they ran out of steam for the remainder of the match, but the clinical showing in the first-half proved to be decisive as Isma Lopez’s strike for the visitors was nothing more than a consolation.Here are the major talking points from the game.

#1 Everything went right for Real Madrid in the first-half

The opening 45 minutes one witnessed today at the Bernabeu must have surely left the viewers’ heart pounding rapidly, for Real Madrid were at their rip-roaring best. Flying out of the traps from the word go, the hosts charged at the goal like raging bulls and had smashed the daylights out of the visitors by the break.

Once Gareth Bale triggered the onslaught, there was only one direction the game would be heading in. Some slick passes, electrifying pace, swift movements and unerring accuracy by the Blancos had left the relegation-battling Gijon side absolutely nonplussed. The searing attacking troika of ‘BBC’ wreaked havoc in the final third, amassing all five goals between them on an another goal-crazy evening.

The first-half was as good as it could ever get, with the fans going berserk and manager Zidane gleaming on the sidelines.

#2 Injuries gatecrash Real\'s party

It was all going perfectly for Real Madrid, who played like the teams of yore. Pace, energy, spark, enthusiasm – you name it, it was all there in their play and that very much reflected on the half-time score. It was all going to plan until injuries reared its ugly head over the Bernabeu.

First, Gareth Bale trudged off the pitch at the end of the first 45 minutes in what appeared to be a reoccurence of the calf problems he has been plagued with all season. Soon, Benzema also had to leave the pitch with a toe injury. James Rodriguez appeared to had inadvertently glided his foot against the Frenchamn’s toe in a mix-up that caused the injury and Benzema wasn’t able to continue for long.

Now without two of the three most important players in the squad, the home side were left slightly hamstrung in the second half as they found it hard to maintain the momentum going forward. Surprisingly, they couldn’t find the net even once in the second period after a scintillating five-goal haul in the first.

#3 Gijon show some stones

The writing was on the wall even before Sporting Gijon set afoot in the Bernabeu, and the 5-0 scoreline at half-time supposedly reaffirmed it. The visitors were made to wipe the floor by a supremely boisterous Merengues side, but managed to muster some courage after the break and fought valiantly.

They may had been a pale imitation of their resilient selves that held Real Madrid to a 0-0 draw on the opening day, but they replicated a scintilla of that in the second half of the game by keeping the mighty Whites at arm’s length and garnering a few chances of their own.

Their efforts did not go waste though, as Gijon pulled one back through Isma Lopez, who was on hand to tap a cross past the sliding Keylor Navas. The goal may not have changed the dynamics of the game and was a mere consolation for the beleaguered visitors. However, it did testify the spirit with which they played the second half.

#4 Ronaldo gets into the groove

After watching his attacking counterparts Bale and Benzema bag 7 goals between them from the last two games, Cristiano Ronaldo, the third piece of the puzzle, joined the act today. The Portuguese talisman, who finished second to Lionel Messi in the Ballon d’Or race on Monday, scored a brace in a near-perfect evening to take his tally to 16 league goals for the season.

Ronaldo opened his account in a blistering fashion, thumping a ferocious volley from 20 yards out after collecting the ball from Benzema and rounding off his markers. He did not have to wait for long for his second which came after a brilliant counter-attack with Dani Carvajal laying with easiest of finishes for the former Manchester United star.

The 30-year old then missed a good chance to claim a hat-trick when a shot went uncharacteristically wide. Nonetheless, Ronaldo was brilliant on the night and tried to keep the juices flowing in the final third even after Bale and Benzema had left the field.

#5 Dani Carvajal reminds Rafa Benitez of his mistake

Under the reigns of Rafa Benitez, right-back Dani Carvajal found first team chances hard to come by. The Spaniard was constantly overlooked in favour of Danilo but, with another belter of a performance, he reminded the ousted manager of his mistake.

The former Bayer Leverkusen man has been performing optimally in recent weeks and was involved in four of the five goals scored. Carvajal pulled the strings from the right wing with great elan, allowing Bale to roam further forward, and it was his sumptuous cross to Ronaldo that led to his second.

For reasons better known by Benitez and Carvajal himself, the latter would spend most of his time on the bench when the 55-year-old boss patrolled the dugout. However, under new manager Zidane, Carvajal is growing from strength to strength.