Copa Del Ray
Score 0 – 5
6 January 2025
Venue: Estadio Municipal Cartagonova
1st Half Game Analysis
Luka Modric was the captain of the team in this match. A lot of players got to play in the starting line-up, like Endrick, Guler, Asensio, Brahim, Aguardo, Lorenzo, and Lunin. Ancelotti wanted to give chances to other players as well and at the same time give some rest to the regular players too. Lorenzo and Aguardo were making their debut game on this day.
The young and energetic players were eager to show something out of this game and prove their ability to be in this big club. No doubt they did display their character and caliber that was reflected by the result of the game.
Real Madrid started pressing from the very beginning of the game and created two good chances within the span of 3 minutes. In the 5th minute of the game, Valverde scored the 1st goal from the right of the post in close range after failing to clear the ball by a Minera defender.
Valverde’s goal
In the 13th minute, Camavinga got a chance to score his unusual goal for his team. He had two attempts, actually, first with his left foot that was blocked by the keeper and the second time he headed the ball home. It was Fran Garcia who delivered a good ball for him to head that turned into a goal for the team. Camavinga was all smiles as he did not believe in his own action, I believe.
Up to the 25th minute of the game, Minera was not able to pose any kind of threat to Real Madrid. On the other hand, Madrid found it easy to keep pressing toward the Minera goalpost. Madrid players did not seem to experience any serious press at all, so the game for them was an easy and comfortable one.
Finally, in the 28th minute, Guler had scored the 3rd goal of the match after several attempts in this game. He had been playing pretty impressively that evening, and his hard work paid off, finally rewarding him with a goal. He shot the ball through the tight space and kept the goalkeeper still as his ball touched the back of the net. It was a great quality goal by Guler.
Again, within the span of two minutes, Madrid missed two good chances, one by Camavinga, who had a sheer good chance, and the second Brahim, whose shot was blocked by the keeper. But good chances kept coming to Madrid players so far in the game.
All through the rest of the time till halftime, Madrid created a lot of opportunities, but their finishing had been poor. The Minera keeper had worked hard, and he kept doing his good job, or the score board would have been terribly different even up to the halftime of the game.
2nd Half Game Analysis
In the 2nd half, within the five minutes of the game, Madrid had a couple of chances, but unable to convert into the goals. The first good chance for a goal came to Minera in the 54th minute, but Lunin easily got hold of the ball as it was a weak shot.
In the 56th minute, Madrid scored their 4th goal via Modric. On the left side of the Madrid wing, there had been constant pressure created mainly by Fran Garcia and others. Modric got the ball in that area in a quick combination with Brahim, and finally he was able to slot his right-footed, easy- looking, precise ball into the back of the net of Minera to everyone’s surprise. This was something from a player of 39 years of age, and he was full of smiles; perhaps he did not believe in himself.
In the 59th minute, Brahim got one on one with the goalkeeper, but his goal shot was well blocked by the keeper to the utter dismay of Brahim. Brahim had about four good chances for scoring goals thus far, but he had been unlucky to score unlike his fellow mates.
In the 62nd minute, Modric was replaced by Vini to the delight of all the spectators. Mbappe and Lucas also came in, replacing Brahim and Camavinga.
Minera had one more shot at the 75th minute of the game. The shot was taken from just outside the box, and the shot flew high above the bar, and there was no danger to Lunin.
Up until 78th minute of the game, Madrid had a total of 21/27 on target, while Minera had a meager 1/3 only. This clearly showed how lopsided the game was between Madrid and Minera.
Madrid had a free kick from about 28 yards for the foul on Endrick, and the shot was taken by Gule,r who targeted the top right corner of the post. But the ball was unable to find the target and flew a few feet away off the post.
In the 81st minute, Garcia threw a good cross ball into the center of the box, and Vini and Lucas both missed to touch the ball, missing another good chance for a goal. Immediately seconds after, Endrick took his good shot from the left of the box with his powerful left foot shot, but that too was well punched away by the Minera keeper. This was the best shot of Endrick the whole evening, and he should have scored this time.
Minera led an attack in the 84th minute, a solo counterattack, and he might had a chance for a good goal shot, but he was declared offside. But the replay showed that he was not. Here the referee was mistaken.
In the 88th minute, Madrid scored their 5th goal by Guler, and Guler’s 2nd goal of the evening. It was again Garcia who sent a good cross from the left, and it was easy for Guler to send it into the box with that close range. The whole evening, Guler had been playing a pretty impressive game, either in attack or in the midfield.
Real Madrid secured a dominant 5 – 0 victory, showcasing their superiority over the inferior-tier team even with their mixture of new and regular players.
Guler’s 2nd goal
Key Takeaways
Strategic Rotations: Coach Ancelotti utilized this match to rotate his squad, giving opportunities to new players like Chema, Aguado, and Lorenzo. Also he gave full time to Endrick and Guler for more exposer in the field.
Defensive Stability: Madrid’s defense remained solid as Minera’s offensive efforts were massively weakened and maintained a clean sheet.
Individual Performance
Arda Guler
Guler was superb and he produced two of the 5 goals. He covered the maximum ground and even played defensively. He was one of the creators of so many chances for scoring goals. He worked hard and gave his 100 percent to the team effort.
Endrick
Endrick could not be effective in the game. He was seen working hard and trying to give his best, but he failed to produce his best as he failed to convert a couple of good opportunities as he should have done. In big games, one hardly gets one or two chances only, if one is unable to grab such opportunities then it is disaster for the team. So Endrick lacked to impact the game as well as to score any goal. Endrick needs more hours of play to improve his performance in such games.
Camavinga
Camavinga did his best in this game as he was seen reaching every corner of the field with flair and ease controlling the ball and helping his team mates. He got a couple of good goal scoring chances, but he could convert one of them only, to his utter delight though. He was all smile after scoring a goal for his team. He lacked precision in goal scoring, otherwise he alone could have added two or more goals in this game.
Drawbacks
Though Real Madrid scored 5 goals against Minera, this does nor reflect the actual game in the field. Madrid had total of 31 attempts on the goalpost, out of them many were missed because of lack of precision of the players. We saw a plenty of lack of finishing touch among the players, which is a massive weakness and make the team poor in scoring goals that lead to lose in games. The team that can convert chances into goals win the game, particularly with big teams in big games chances are very rare.
Real Madrid must focus on to improve this drawbacks among the players soon as possible or however good the team might play, there will be high chances of losing the game in big matches.
Final Thought
This game provided opportunity for the young and new players to test and experience the real game with the regular players and also show their caliber and talent to the couches. Brahim, Guler, Endrick, and Asencio got to play full time, and new, young players got to experienced the game time more.
Statistics
Real Madrid Minera
Goals 5 0
Total shots 33 4
Shots on goal 21 1
Fouls 13 11
Ball Possession 66.5 % 33.5%
Corner kicks 9 0
Saves. 1 17