Real Madrid-Valladolid: Vinicius brings Solari luck, Bale frustrates
Vinicius brought about a Kiko Olivas own goal, while Gareth Bale again exasperated the Bernabéu, who whistled him when he was taken off.
Thibaut Courtois:
Had little to do in the first half, before pulling off a crucial stop to deny a one-on-one chance for Real Valladolid's Toni Villa.
Álvaro Odriozola:
Joined in the attack with no little enthusiasm, but scarcely caused the visitors any problems.
Nacho Fernández:
Defended well, although he did struggle with the odd ball played in over his shoulder.
Sergio Ramos:
A more focused defensive display than we have seen from him in any other game this season. The pre-match whistles he received from a sector of the home crowd served to rein in his habit of charging forward to get himself a goal - although he was actually on the scoresheet in the end, converting a late penalty won by Karim Benzema. Moments before Ramos stepped up for the spot-kick, he was again whistled by some of the fans, who wanted Vinicius to take it.
Sergio Reguilón:
Making his LaLiga debut for Madrid, the defender protected his flank well in what was a committed display. His crosses into the Valladolid box were among Los Blancos' few sources of attacking creativity in the first half.
Casemiro:
Madrid's best midfield performer. In the 55th minute, the Brazilian produced a fine effort from outside of the area that forced goalkeeper Jordi Masip into an excellent save. He was taken off for Isco a minute later.
Luka Modric:
Remains well short of top form. He was imprecise with his use of the ball and found it difficult to shake off the marking of Valladolid's midfielders. He was second to pretty much every 50-50 ball he competed for.
Toni Kroos:
Grew into the game. The German had more of an impact on proceedings in the second half, and ran himself into the ground helping out his team-mates in defence.
Marco Asensio:
Nothing to write home about. He brought plenty of enthusiasm to the party, but little in the way of quality - althought it was his good through-ball for Karim Benzema that created the game's first scoring chance - and was subjected to the odd jeer when he was brought off for Vinicius late on in the second half.
Gareth Bale:
In his own world. Bale was erratic and struggled to integrate into the team's play. Late on in the first half, caretaker coach Santi Solari switched him from the right flank to the left to get him onto his natural wing, but he still contributed little. The Welshman was among the Madrid players to come in for the most whistles from the crowd. He saw one headed opportunity easily saved by Masip in the 11th minute, before spurning a second soon after from a good Reguilón ball into the middle. He was replaced by Lucas Vázquez with 20 minutes to go.
Karim Benzema:
Anonymous for much of the game, he ended up playing a key role in Madrid's second, winning the penalty that was then scored by Ramos. Earlier in the afternoon, the game's opening opportunity had fallen to the Frenchman, but he found himself driven wide and sent his angled shot just past the post.
Substitutes:
Isco:
Sought to inject a greater dose of inspiration into Real Madrid's play, offering himself in every area of the attack to provide solutions to his team-mates.
Lucas Vázquez:
Showed plenty of enthusiasm when he came on and sent in a good cross with his first touch of the ball. That aside, however, he didn't really get into the game.
Vinicius:
Thrown on in the 74th minute for Asensio, he certainly brought Madrid that little bit of luck: it was the 18-year-old's incursion into the box that led Kiko Olivas to turn the ball into his own net and give Los Merengues the lead. When the home side won a spot-kick soon after, he was the man the Bernabéu crowd wanted to take it.