APOEL Nicosia vs Real Madrid: 5 Key Talking Points

#3 Well defined roles help stabilize Madrid

Toni Kroos was rock-solid at the centre of the park

Casemiro's exclusion to make space for Asensio may have raised a couple of eyebrows before the game began. And Asensio took a while to find his feet. But the well-defined roles in midfield and attack helped bring a sense of stability to the team and 20 minutes into the game, the players had settled down and looked ready to pillage and plunder.

Kroos held the ropes in place as Modric slalomed past the blockages to constantly bug the APOEL defence. Asensio, who was floating all around the pitch was impressive and boy did he put in a shift! The youngster, while not a finished product, has the maturity and the ability to step up and deliver at times when it matters.

He was the link between the midfield and attack for most parts of the game and while his final product was lacking intermittently, he did a solid job.

The same applies to Ronaldo and Vasquez. While the latter phased in and out of the game, Ronaldo was a constant threat going forward and was involved in 4 of the goals that went in.

Toni Kroos was the architect of Benzema's first and he kept things solid at the centre. Carvajal and Marcelo had a good time in the middle. Marcelo was menacing going forward and it was he who picked out Ronaldo for the 5th goal of the match.