In an entertaining affair at the Santiago Bernabeu, the two age-old rivals battled it out toe to toe for the most part. After a series of botched attempts, Real Madrid finally made their way past the stubborn Basques of Athletic Bilbao.
They were sloppy, looked disjointed and uncoordinated at times, but their relentless waves of pressure finally paid off as Alvaro Morata scrambled the ball in late on to win the tie for the desperate home side. They remain on top of the table with 21 points off 9 games, while Bilbao stay put in 6th with 15 points in their 9 games.
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Apart from all the shortcomings in the game, it also appeared to look like Cristiano Ronaldo was unhappy with Alvaro Morata scoring. Make what you will of his antics post the goal. We’re just leaving it here.
Barring that incident, here are the major talking points from today’s game
#1. Real Madrid have no clear identity under Zidane
Yes, it’s too early to judge Zinedine Zidane’s managerial tenure at Real Madrid. And even if you do evaluate it, it’s not too shabby at all. The enigmatic Frenchman has won 30 of his 39 games in charge of Real Madrid, and he’s lost only two. He’s done all this with his team having scored 2.85 goals per game.
He went on a 16 match winning run that equaled a record set by the Pep Guardiola and his terrifying Barcelona side in their indomitable heyday. All things considered, those are pretty nifty numbers – numbers that most managers would kill for.
But there is a larger question at stake here. When the equally inexperienced Pep Guardiola took over at arch rivals he not only brought instant success, but also a deeply customised style of play. It helped define his team and himself. This is something Zidane has not done yet.
In fact, he’s shown no sign of doing either. His Madrid side are neither a counter-attacking machine nor a possession based juggernaut. They play down the flanks at times, and they play down the middle during others. Sure they have looked fluid, dynamic and scarily fast at times, but without certain components of the system, they just look utterly confused.
It may not be a big deal now, but if he is to continue succeeding for the long term, the Frenchman will need to work out an identity for himself, and for his team.
#2. Luka Modric and Casemiro are Madrid’s real stars
The first point leads to this one. The certain components I mentioned in that point were in essence Luka Modric and Casemiro. The Croat and the Brazilian have shored up a lot of holes – and their qualities have seen Madrid conquer their lack of identity and gel into a seamless, fluid, entity.
#3. Inaki Williams and Sabin Merino tide over Bilbao's injury worries, temporarily
The Basques so nearly held on to a draw that they did well enough to deserve. Inaki Williams up top was superb throughout, his pace and almost insulting directness terrifying the Madrid defence. Every time he got the ball, the Bernabeu held its collective breath. The 22-year old, though, needs to improve on his finishing. He had a couple of glorious chances that he missed due to this shoddiness in front of goal – to be fair to him, he did make those chances himself with his skill and relentless hustle.
Sabin Merino had big shoes to fill as he replaced the Basque hero Aritz Aduriz as the spearhead of the Bilbao attack. Aduriz is now 36 and injured, it is high time that Athletic Club found a replacement – and they most certainly have a promising prospect in 24-year-old Merino.
Bilbao though need to get their squad sorted out. Iker Muniain – easily the best player in Basque country – was restricted to a cameo, as was Ander Iturraspe. Aduriz meanwhile didn’t feature at all. This doesn’t bear well for the club, and they will be hoping that their best players can work their back to full fitness as fast as possible (and stay there!)
#4. Bilbao need to shore up their defence
The Spanish league is not what it was. The top 3 may still be unassailable (Yes, I know where Sevilla are in the table, but there are going to need to be there for a lot longer than
nine games to convince anyone that they are real Top 3 material), and the middle of the table is more packed than ever.
Over the seasons, it has been Bilbao's tendency to finish in the European (Europa League) slots, but if they do not improve their defending, it will be hard to maintain that run, let alone achieve their ultimate target of assailing the Champions League places.
Tonight they could have come off with at least a point, if not for some very iffy defending. Madrid’s first goal was a defensive calamity that allowed Isco two bites at the cherry. The Spaniard made no mistake in his second try and provided the assist for Karim Benzema’s goal. The second goal was not especially due to defensive errors, but their defensive incompetence did present a whole lot of opportunities to the Madrid strikeforce – if they had their scoring boots on, it would have been a lot bigger margin of defeat than a 2-1.
#5. Cristiano Ronaldo needs to find his scoring boots, and pronto
Speaking of scoring boots – has anyone seen Cristiano Ronaldo’s? He is a victim of his own success, insofar as we expect a hat trick every time he steps onto the pitch, but even by regular non-Ronaldo, non-Messi, striker standards, Ronaldo’s goal drought is a matter of concern.
This is what his last three La Liga games have looked like – Vs. Bilbao: 11 shots, 0 goals. Vs. Betis: 8 shots, 1 goal. Vs. Eibar: 8 shots, 0 goals. In fact, in yesterday’s game, he had more shots on goal than the entire Bilbao team combined! He could, though, hit the target with only 2 of them. One of those was a one-on-one with the Bilbao keeper, that the Ronaldo of seasons past would have buried with his eyes closed.
He has cut a frustrated figure all this season, and his shooting has been as off-colour as it’s ever been. This match, in fact, marks the first time that Ronaldo has gone 4 matches in the Santiago Bernebau without scoring a goal!
If anyone has the mental strength to re-invent himself, it is the great Portuguese and he surely will find his scoring touch soon. But he better get a move on, because 700 odd km away, in the Camp Nou, a certain Leo Messi is going great guns.
