REAL MADRID 6 - ESPANYOL 0
Cristiano Ronaldo hits treble as Real Madrid thump Espanyol
The forward produced his best performance so far under Zidane, with James also impressing, as Madrid blew the Catalan outfit away at the Bernabéu.
In football, points get trophies in cabinets and excitement gets bums on seats. Since the day Zinedine Zidane took the helm, Real Madrid have dropped further behind Barcelona in the La Liga table – but closer to their identity, closer to their fans, and closer to being happy. That’s not just a source of consolation; it’s a springboard from which to reinvent a team by tinkering with no more than the spirit and the physical side of things. With the same set of players so often sent out by Rafa Benítez, Madrid destroyed an injury-hit Espanyol outfit with the stirring, dizzying, precise and devastating brand of play that ‘Zizou’ has demanded of them.
Runs of unremarkable fixtures such as these tend to do wonders for results on the board but offer few pointers as to where the side is really at. This time, however, that appears not to be the case. Madrid confirmed the impression of continued improvement under Zidane and are giving off the general feeling that they are playing with greater tempo and thrust, and with a more palpable sense that they are working hard for each other. Against Espanyol, the midfield cause previously left to Luka Modric to head up saw Isco and James Rodríguez step firmly back up to the plate. The Spaniard was already on the right track, while doubts still surrounded the Colombian; but against Los Pericos he brought to bear all the qualities that got him here in the first place: presence, pinpoint distribution and a sledge-hammer left foot. He laid on the opening goal for Karim Benzema, and was on the scoresheet himself for the third, with the aid of the officials (who missed the fact that he received the ball from an offside position) and a deflection off the unfortunate Pape Diop.
Toni Kroos is also more deeply involved and is leaving Modric with less work to get through. And on the right flank, Dani Carvajal had a ball. That voluntary lopsidedness brought about by going with Danilo appears to have been consigned to the dustbin. With the academy graduate on one side and Marcelo on the other, Madrid offered up an immense wealth of attacking resources.
Los Blancos also give the sensation of being more compact, that the men up front are shirking their defensive duties less and that the tendency for gaps to pop up between defence and attack is disappearing. And, against this backdrop, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo are on hand to spearhead the team. For years an unruly enigma of a number nine, the Frenchman now leads the artillery, even scoring with his shoulder, and continues to average more than a goal a game. Cristiano, meanwhile, is displaying only minor scars of the faded figure we had begun to witness, and is bringing a degree of fight to his performances that is inducing his recovery to his former self, goal by goal (he helped himself to three in this clash). He produced his best game yet under Zidane, and the distinct sensation exists that where before there were employees, now there are warriors.
For Espanyol, who came into the match undermined by absences, it was a night that delivered a raft negatives. They conceded three goals in the first quarter of an hour, saw keeper Giedrius Arlauskis (six conceded) and Óscar Duarte (scorer of an own goal) endure torrid debuts, and again lost Víctor Sánchez, who was making his return at the Bernabéu, to injury. The visitors’ best moments came when the encounter was already done and dusted.
Indeed, aware that the affair was won, Zidane sought to look after his players’ bodies, as well as the atmosphere in the Bernabéu. He withdrew Modric, an individual essential in greater battles to come, and reminded Jesé Rodríguez that he’s his twelfth man. The Canary Islander is in enterprising mood, but is not helped by the fact that he brings his enthusiasm to the party when the rest of the team are dropping down the gears. There were also minutes for Casemiro, whose tenacity appears more expendable in view of the heightened grit and commitment in evidence throughout the side, and Lucas Vázquez, helping to maintain that presence of youth products that the crowd always like to keep, the pair arriving at Sunday night’s fiesta just in time to clear away the empties and turn the lights out.