La Liga
Score 3. – 0
24-11-2024
Estadio Municipal de Butarque, Leganes city
First Half Analysis
In this game against Leganes, Valverde played as a right back and Asencio as a central back. Guler was also included in the starting lineup and joined the attacking trio with Mbappe, Vini, and Guler. Mbappe was playing on the left wing, and Vini was a number 9 position, and on the right wing was Guler. I hoped this new positioning would bring some good results for the team. Valverde was the team captain too for this game.
Up until the 10th minute of the game, Madrid had good control of the ball and the game. In the 10th minute, Mbappe got the ball on the left wing, rushed forward all by himself, and shot the ball into the post by beating the goalkeeper. It was a good shot into the post, but the joy was short-lived as he was declared offside by half a body. Anyway, this was a good attempt, and Mbappe did show his caliber by doing what he could do with such a chance.
In the 14th minute, Vini got the ball inside the box via Camavinga, as he was trying for the ball, a defender held, pushed, and even kneed Vini and brought him down, and that made Vini furious. Inside the box being so physical by a defender, naturally, anyone can get as furious as Vini, and I can see his valid reason. The defender should have been shown a yellow card as per his offense.
In the 22nd minute, Leganes led an attack from the right wing, and the ball was thrown into the box, and Legane’s striker, Munir, kicked the ball and it hit the crossbar and almost got into the post for a goal. But even if it was a goal, the striker was a clear off-side as he was shown a way ahead by 2 meters. But it was a bad sign that Legane too could score goals against this much stronger team.
By this time, the possession percent was 68% for Real Madrid and only 32% for Leganes. Though the team was playing well so far, the dangerous chances for goals were lacking. Madrid needed to be sharper and creative inside the box to score goals for the team.
In the 25th minute, Guler got the ball from Camavinga and he got inside the box from the right. He dribbled past two defenders and a third one and took a good shot at the post, but the keeper bravely stopped the ball and sent it deflected for safety. This was a superb attempt by Guler on his own.
On the left wing, Garcia passed the ball to Vini, and Vini in turn gave a good ball to Mbappe. Mbappe took a real powerful goal shot from just about the 18 yard line, but his shot was well blocked by a defender. It was a beautiful set up by Vini for Mbappe and creation of a good chance for a goal.
More than half an hour had passed and the score was nil for both sides. Though Madrid was dominating, they had not been able to get the breakthrough that they were looking for so far. Guler, Vini, and Mbappe were doing good, but not that good enough to score a goal. Bellingham too was doing his part well. The team had not been able to find that crack in the defence of Leganes. As the game progressed I thought that Leganes were getting more confident and led one or two good attacks.
In the 35th minute, a deflected ball came toward Vini inside the box with a good chance, but before he could get the ball, he was brought down by a defender by kicking his foot. The referee did not think it was a penalty and the game went on. I think the referee thought that the kick was not hard enough for a penalty.
In the 38th minute, Vini was gliding with the ball in the opponent’s field near the 18-yard line, a Leganes’ defender pulled him and he fell. The defender was penalized with a yellow card and a free kick was given. But as we saw the scenario was not that bad. Vini seemed to have overreacted and fell down. The defender’s hand did not touch Vini’s face as he claimed, and the pull was hardly there, though Vini fell on the ground. I as well as the commentators too think that Vini over-reacted in this situation. Vini needs to control himself and stay away from such cheap tactics, or he has to face the same fate as Nemar did.
The free kick was taken by Guler and it was a good free kick through the wall toward the far post. The keeper was alert and he could block the shot away with no difficulty.
In the 41st minute, Vini got an opportunity to shoot the ball into the goal at the pass of Bellingham from just outside of the box, but the ball went too high up in the air.
The breakthrough took place finally in the 43rd minute of the game. A Leganes player played the ball too much in his own midfield and lost the ball which was picked sharply by dashing Vini. Vini had only the keeper to beat but he displayed his biggest heart and passed the ball across to Mbappe who had an empty net in front and thus scored the first goal of the game. This was possible because of Vini’s instant correct decision and dashing action.
A minute later, Bellingham gave an excellent ball to Mbappe inside the box. A defender obstructed the open chance and Mbappe slightly missed the ball to touch or it could have been a good chance for his 2nd goal opportunity.
Attacking zones for Madrid were, of course, mostly from the left wing which had 47%, central 30%, and from the right wing 23%. As in this game, Mbappe was allowed to play from the left wing, and more and more attacks were from this side. Nevertheless, even Guler was seen to be doing a good job on the right so far till halftime. Valverde too was doing a good job as a right back and he played sometimes as far as the right wing supporting Guler when he moved inside.
Second Half Analysis
In two minutes in the second half, Courtois risked massively when a Leganes player tried to snatch the ball from him in the box and he kept dribbling the ball. It could have been fatal if he had lost the ball for a silly reason.
There had been constant pressure on the Leganes’ box area by Madrid, but Madrid did not find 2nd goal till the 60th minute of the game. Guler had been taking free kicks and corner balls for Madrid in this game, and he had done pretty good I thought.
Bellingham fell down inside the box in the 62nd minute, but the referee asked him to be on his feet and no penalty as enough contact was missing for him. On replay, we too did not find any serious foul on him at all. He was pushed but it was not enough or rather looked like he did dive instead.
In the 64th minute, Vini was fouled on the left just outside the 18-yard line. A Leganes player pushed him hard as he was dashing with the ball into the box for an attack. Now this free kick spot was ideal for a dangerous shot for a goal shot.
Valverde took the free kick. The Leganes wall was small, only three players stood. Ceballos pushed the ball, Guler held for the kick, and Valverde hit the ball. The shot was a ground ball that shot into the net by the near post. As the shot was too fast, the goalkeeper could not reach the ball. It was a superb tactic for the players to execute and to score a goal for the team.
So far in the game, till the 68th minute, Madrid had a total of 5 shots on target, while Leganes had none at all.
In the 74th minute, there was a good attack. Vini received the ball from Valverde on the right, and he dribbled into the box and passed the ball on the left to Guler, who had a better chance for a goal shot. But his shot was deflected by the left foot of the keeper, and thus nullified Guler’s shot for a goal. It was a good move created by Vini and a good chance for another goal.
Guler was substituted by Brahim in the 75th minute of the game.
Leganes won their 1st corner of the game in the 80th minute. It was well cleared by Camavinga and Leganes could not utilize their chance.
There was a counterattack in the 81st minute led by Mbappe and he had only to beat the keeper. But his shot was well blocked by the brave keeper, Dmitrovic, of Leganes, and a good chance was lost. Upto this Leganes keeper had saved 5 shots, while Courtois had none at all.
One thing for sure is that Mbappe needs to work on his goal shots as he most of the time hit the goalkeeper, instead of the back of the net. He must shoot the ball tricking the keeper so that the ball finds the net, not the keeper. I hope he realizes this and work on to improve.
Mbappe was substituted by Modric in the 83rd minute of the game.
In the 85th minute, Fran Garcia led the attack from the left wing, and his cross pass to Vini was blocked by a defender and the ball went out of the line for a corner kick for Madrid.
The corner ball was taken by Modric and it was a decent ball into the center of the box. A Legane player tried to clear the ball, but Rudiger got it and passed the ball to Brahim just outside the box. Brahim took a good shot at the post. The ball got deflected and hit the top bar, and while the ball bounced, Bellingham headed the ball into the goalpost being at the right place. Thus, he scored the third goal of the match.
In the 87th minute, Endrick replaced Bellingham. The possession percentage was 64 for Madrid. The shots on target were 8 for Madrid and still 0 for Leganes. This showed how dominant Real Madrid had been in this game against Leganes.
In the 90th minute, Camavinga raced with the ball from his half toward the opponent’s half and just about the box he passed the ball to Brahim on the right. Brahim passed the ball to rushing Valverde inside the box on the right, and Valverde in turn back passed the ball for Brahim. Brahim took a quick shot at the post, but his shot was well blocked by a defender. I must say that it was a good and rapid build-up by this trio.
The extra time of 4 minutes was added to the game. Mbappe was the man of the match. Mbappe played better, perhaps he found his natural place, so he could perform better. Still, his shots need to find the back of the net, not the goalkeeper. Vini was super as always. Guler too displayed some good skills and created some good chances. Bellingham worked hard and produced a goal too. Valverde was super as a right-back and held his position well. Courtois had no problem at all except for once when he undermined an opponent player who played too much with the ball and nearly turned into a disaster.
Overall, Real Madrid played well by controlling the game and did not give any chances to the opponent team at all. In this match we could see the defense was pretty strong and much better organized. Valverde, Fran Garcia, and Raul Asencio performed well helping Rudiger in defence.
Statistics
Real Madrid. Leganes
68% Ball Possession 32%
16 Total shots 4
4 Corners 2
9 Shots on target 0
0 Saves 5
12 Counter Attacks 9
0 Yellow card 2