Real Madrid went back on top of La Liga after a convincing 4-1 away win against Eibar. Karim Benzema’s brace followed by goals from James Rodriguez and Marco Asensio gave Los Blancos an easy win and condemned Eibar to only their fourth home defeat of the season.
Zinedine Zidane’s side was without Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Marcelo but made light work of the side from the Basque country. Real went into the break with a 3-0 lead, which ensured that they could rest the likes of Benzema and Luka Modric ahead of their Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Napoli in Italy on Wednesday.
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Here’s how each player fared.
Eibar
Yoel Rodriguez – 5/10
Yoel could have done very little about the last three Real Madrid goals, but he should take the blame for Benzema’s opener. The first shot was a weak one from the Frenchman and the goalkeeper should have held on to it. Instead, he parried the ball straight back into the striker’s path for him to tuck the ball away to set Real on their way.
Ander Capa – 4/10
Capa did not have a good game. He could not deal with the pace and skill of Asensio and James. He really should have tracked Asensio better and not allowed him to cross to Benzema for the first goal.
Mauro Dos Santos – 5/10
When you are dealing with a striker of Benzema’s class, you should never switch off, even for a second. Dos Santos did just that while defending a set-piece and James’s inch-perfect cross was easily put in the back of the net by Benzema.
Ivan Ramis – 5/10
Ramis was the best Eibar defender on show. He was decisive, both when the ball was in the air and on the ground. But, unfortunately for Eibar, he did not receive any support from his fellow defenders.
Antonio Luna – 3/10
The former Aston Villa defender was given a good run-around by Lucas Vazquez. The young winger’s pace was too much to handle for Luna and he committed mistakes. But what was worse was his offensive play, particularly from corners. Eibar took short corners to him and he took an age to let the ball go, sometimes not even putting it in the box.
Gonzalo Escalante – 5/10
Escalante was combative in the centre of the park, but his lack of quality while in possession was evident. He made a few crunching tackles, one of which earned him a caution midway through the first half.
Dani Garcia – 5/10
He tried to be the creative force in the Eibar midfield and did play a few terrific passes to the wingers. But largely, he was overrun by the running and decisiveness of Luka Modric.
Pedro Leon – 6/10
After a poor first half, the former Real winger had a bright second period. He had the confidence to run at Nacho, and cause him problems. It was his cross which was turned in by Ruben Pena for Eibar’s consolation goal on the day.
Adrian Gonzalez – 3/10
Gonzalez was never really in the game. Casemiro stuck to his task brilliantly in Real’s midfield to deny the Eibar man any space to work with.
Ruben Pena – 6/10
He had a largely quiet game for Eibar but popped up when the chance came calling. It was a beautiful cross by Pedro Leon that he turned into the net off his back.
Sergio Enrich – 4/10
Enrich had a tough game. Eibar resorted to going long to find him with the early ball. But he was up against two powerful defenders in Pepe and Sergio Ramos who rendered his efforts useless.
Substitutes:
Anaitz Arbilla – 5/10
He replaced Luna in the 55th minute and did much better than him in the remainder of the game. Maybe, he was also helped by the fact that Vazquez became a peripheral figure in the game.
Cristian Rivera – 4/10
He came on in the 3rd minute to replace Adrian Gonzalez. His arrival coincided with Eibar’s best spell in the game.
Takashi Inui – N/A
He was on the pitch for only five minutes as the last rites were being performed.
Real Madrid
Keylor Navas – 6/10
Navas has taken a bit of stick in recent weeks, but this performance should give him confidence. Eibar didn’t have too many shots for him to save, but he came out confidently to catch crosses throughout the game.
Danilo – 5/10
Danilo had a poor game. He was getting out-muscled easily by Ruben Pena. His passing too was not on point. Dani Carvajal would not feel threatened by that performance.
Pepe – 6/10
What he had to do, Pepe did like he always does. He was a strong aerial presence and didn’t give Enrich a sniff.
Sergio Ramos – 6/10
Much like Pepe, Ramos was also there when his team needed him. It is a completely different story that Real didn’t need him too much.
Nacho – 6/10
Nacho didn’t go forward as much as he’d have liked, but he largely did his job defensively. For Eibar’s goal, he should have done much better. He was easily brushed aside by Pedro Leon before he crossed for Pena.
Casemiro – 6/10
Casemiro had a very effective game in the middle of the park for Real. He always seemed to be at the right place at the right time, as Eibar’s attacks were snuffed out before they even started.
Luka Modric – 7/10
It was a very Modric-like performance. He was energetic, full of running and his distribution was on point. However, when he did get into the final third, he made some poor decision that broke Real attacks down.
James Rodriguez – 8/10
James was the creator-in-chief for Real. He always seemed to find the right moment to release Asensio and Vazquez as the youngsters were causing havoc. It was a great finish too, as he tucked Benzema’s cross away to put Real 3-0 up. Also, his set-pieces alone could earn him an automatic spot in most teams in the world.
Lucas Vazquez – 7/10
The young Spaniard had a very strong first half, but he faded away after the interval. It was a game of near-misses for Vazquez as he put several crosses in good areas, but found no Real player at the end of it.
Marco Asensio – 8/10
His stock only keeps rising. He beat Capa for pace to cross the ball to set up Benzema’s opener and had a few other chances to score himself in the first half. When the opportunity did come after the break, he took it with glee as he showed enough composure when faced with an open goal.
Karim Benzema – 9/10
Another game, two more goals for Karim Benzema. Both goals came through expertly-taken finishes as well. He might count himself lucky that he got the rebound for the first goal, but his second goal was a classy finish from a fantastic cross. He also put in a terrific cross to set up James’s goal and started off the move which led to Asensio’s goal. Man of the Match.
Substitutes:
Mariano Diaz – 5/10
Mariano came on and looked full of energy, but his ball control let him down on more than one occasion.
Mateo Kovacic – 5/10
After replacing Modric for the last 20 minutes, he had a chance to score late in the game, but the opportunity went away as he was crowded out by the Eibar defenders.
Isco – N/A
He came on and helped Real see the game through.
