Page 3 - Real Betis 3-5 Real Madrid

Real Betis 3-5 Real Madrid - 5 Talking Points

Modified Feb 19, 2018 03:44 GMT

Benzema scored late into the night to secure all 3 points for Madrid

#3 All's not well for Madrid

Madrid will have that Marcelo will be able to recover soon

After Toni Kroos picked up a knee injury, Zidane would have been hoping that all of his star players would remain fit as they try to cement their legacy as the world-beaters of Europe.

Marcelo pulled up in the first half and collapsed to the ground as he pulled his hamstring and had to be subbed off immediately. The Brazilian is in great form and was one of Madrid's best players when they squared off against PSG in that high-profile Champions League clash.

Marcelo, in fact, lights up the left wing all by himself and is as good an attacker as you'll come across when he's not lying deep inside his own half defending.

Ever since Ronaldo started playing more centrally, Marcelo's exploits on the left wing have been crucial to Madrid's success. This was even more evident as Theo Hernandez, who replaced him, though endowed with good pace and control of the ball, couldn't conjure up anything close to the quality of what the Brazilian fullback could.

Madridistas will have their fingers crossed and will hope that the medical report isn't more bad news because they could really use less of that.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Shambhu Ajith