Brahim, pushing for a place in a drab Madrid
This time there was no goal from Karim Benzema, and right now if he doesn’t score, no one else will so Real Madrid had to make do with a goalless draw at Getafe last night. And much of that was thanks to Keylor Navas, who pulled out two superb saves towards the end. The best thing about Madrid at the Coliseum was Brahim, a player who’ got something about him. It was a game with the pressure off, as Mijatovic reminded us on Carrusel, but he did leave us with a few fleeting glimpses of promise. It was a bit like watching Vinicius when he first started out - up until his injury. He was the only ray of sunshine in a sombre, drab team on their way to their third coach with players being shifted up or down the pecking order depending on the tastes of who was in charge.
Getafe pushing for a return to European competition
Getafe will have come away feeling they deserved more. They pressed high, regrouped with order when they needed to, carried the weight of the game in their usual style - blunt and tough and anything but defensive. At one point they had four strikers, piling forward in search of that elusive goal which would strengthen their position in fourth, with Sevilla now level on points after putting five past Rayo earlier on Thursday. I don’t know where Getafe will end up this season – quite likely they’ll qualify for Europe, where they deserve to be, but it’s admirable what they’ve done. Proportionally to the rest - looking at the how much their squad actually cost and where they are in the table, they are undoubtedly the champions. José Bordalás has done a great job, his team knows how to give their rivals a hard time while playing decent football themselves.
Brahim, the best of the bunch
As for Real Madrid last night, apart from Brahim, zero. Bale was disappointing; Isco, who seems distracted, never got into gear; Asensio came on for the last 20 minutes and was poor; a few minutes later Toni Kroos came on and played with all the indifference of someone taking part in a Dads versus Lads match during the summer holidays. The defence did what they had to do although Reguilón didn’t join the attack like he usually does. Benzema had a shot on target in their half but after that, nothing because Madrid hardly encroached on the Getafe area after the break. As a team, Madrid went into the game as Benzema and 10 others – he’s scored all eight of their last goals and had the chance to equal the league record, which stands at nine. A few flashes of quality from Brahim was all there was on note. He’s a promise to watch out for.