The Supercopa is known for its hard-fought games and the first Clasico of the year didn’t become an exception. Some impressive performances from Real Madrid and some disappointed but everyone is responsible for this historic feat. We take a look at how our players fared:
Thibaut Courtois (7.5/10): It was a mixed day in the office for the Belgian Goalie, it is quite harsh to ask for a clean sheet in a match of this caliber and considering our recent state of the defense. Made a stunning save immediately after Real Madrid made the game 1-0 from a header from Luuk De Jong. He also denied both Busquets and Dembele in the 101st minute with two consecutive saves keeping the lead in Madrid’s favor.
Dani Carvajal (6/10): Made his return from injury, had a solid game but had trouble containing Ousmane Dembele. The first goal came due to the ill marking of Dembele by him.
Eder Militao (3.5/10): Militao chose the wrong game to make his worst. His clearance attempt came bounced off De Jong leading to Barca’s first equalizer. Ansu Fati’s goal also came due to his wrong positioning. He finished the game only with an 82% pass completion rate.
Nacho (7/10): Started a game after staying out for some time. Made a solid start to the game, made some crucial interceptions and tackles which could have proved fatal for Real Madrid. Won most of his aerial duels against De Jong who’s bread and butter is the air.
Ferland Mendy (8.5/10): Mendy had a good day in the office, completely switched down Ferran Torres and Dani Alves. Contributed much for Benzema’s goal, also contained Ez Abde in the second half who couldn’t dribble past Mendy. Our left-wing remained reliable last night.
Toni Kroos (5.5/10): Kroos was not in his usual self last night, tiredness and fatigue were visible. Still had a pass success rate of 97%. Xavi specially appointed Gavi to mark him all night leading to discomfort for Kroos. He couldn’t move further up the pitch because of the Barca press.
Casemiro (8/10): Casemiro became a key figure for Real Madrid in moving the ball fast from the defense to attack, Madrid’s winning goal came courtesy of him breaking away and making the counter charge successful. He took the spot of Kroos during the night, as he did well waving away the pressure from the Blaugrana.
Luka Modric (8.5/10): Aging like fine wine, Modric again displayed his extraordinary gameplay. Luka moved to provide a vital passing outlet for his teammates under pressure, and his movement, tight ball control, and passing found several holes in the Barça press.
Vinicius Jr. (9.5/10): No wonder we all rooted for him to come up big in the Clasico, and he lived upto the billing. Scored the opener for Real Madrid. None of the Barca players were up for his pace and he completely outclassed Araujo and Alves. He outsmarted Araujo again by his feint leading to Real Madrid’s winning goal from Valverde.
Karim Benzema (9/10): His attacking positioning is really underrated which led to his goal. His pinpoint through balls were a menace for Barca as Vini always chased them down winning the duel on most occasions. He became completely tired during the last part of the game but nevertheless, an excellent showing from our talismanic Frenchman.
Marco Asensio (4/10): Tried his best to make an impact on several occasions but was unable to. Didn’t trackback Dembele which led to Carvajal taking on two Barca players from the right. After playing so well in the Valencia game, we expected him to repeat the same here but he couldn’t continue his good form.
Substitutes
Rodrygo (7.5/10): Made dynamic runs from the right-wing. Our right-wing got a new rejuvenation after he came on. Pique had a hard time containing him. Recorded an assist under his name after his cutback pass into the box. However, he missed an open chance in the dying minutes of the game.
Camavinga (5/10): A cameo for the Frenchman, didn’t make much of an impact in the game. However, he injected pace into the side after coming on.
Lucas Vazquez (6/10): Made a solid performance on his chance. His sole concentration was defense and was able to look after Dembele.
Federico Valverde (7/10): Valverde scored the winning goal for Los Blancos as he himself started the move from his own box and made an impressive run to the opponent’s box to slot home. A true definition of a box-to-box midfielder. This guy is made for this tournament!
