Real Madrid vs Real Valladolid

Real Madrid vs Real Valladolid

Score   3 – 0                 25 August 2024

First Game of the season at Bernabeu Stadium

1st Half Game 

This is the first game of the season on Real Madrid’s home ground. Moreover now with the new additions of mega players like Mbappe and Endrick, there were great expectations from the home crowd of fans in the stadium as well as from all around the globe. 

The first eight minutes of the game were normal play by both teams with no danger to either side.  But in the 9th minute, Rudiger had a long ball to Mbappe who had a touch left foot shot at the ball for a goal, but the opponent keeper was able to push the ball away to his teammates. It was the first chance for a goal by Mbappe.

In this game, Arda Guler had taken the place of Bellingham, and Fran Garcia in place of Mendy. Normally they are not the first-choice players, but today they got the chance to display their skill and performance. 

The very first shot at the goal post of Real Madrid by Valladolid came about the 16th minute only. Valladolid’s player’s shot was ground level and powerful, but it slightly touched Madrid’s defense’s foot and went the ball out of the right pole for a corner kick. There was no danger from Valladolid’s corner kick and the play went on. 

Upto 23rd minute the game went on and not so danger to either side. At one point Tchouameny had a long shot from outside of an 18-yard box aiming for a goal. But the ball went away high up in the air causing no threat at all. So far Valladolid had been able to hold Real Madrid well. There was one attempt by Rodrygo to go inside the D area by dribbling the ball and passing a few players, but he was tangled by one defender just outside the box and it was not given any foul. 

Up to the 40th minute of the game, the score remained the same, with no goal to either side. Although Real Madrid had the most possessions and played the ball mostly in the Valladolid half, they were quite unable to create any threat. We might say here that Valladolid players were defending their post with their might and at times tried for counterattacks, but nothing serious at all. In about the 41st minute Valverde had a long long shot at the pass of Vinicius, but it flew away high above the post and out. 

In the 42nd minute, Valverde, Guler, and Rodrygo led the attack into the box area, somehow Rodrygo managed to have a shot that was blocked, otherwise could have had a great chance because it was from a close range. But before that shot, the bouncing ball had touched  Rodrygo’s arm and the whistle went for a free kick. It was a good build-up inside the box among many opponent players. 

In the 45th minute, there was a good build-up of Real Madrid, Vini passed the ball to Guler outside the box, and in turn, Guler passed the ball inside the box quickly for Mbappe to fire into the post. It was a superb pass and had a good shot from near the post. But the ball was quickly sent out by a defender before Mbappe could touch it. Another golden chance was missed by Mbappe at this moment. 

With the added 4 minutes of time the game came to an end of the first half. The possession was 69% for Real Madrid and 31% for Valladolid. Most of the time, the game was played in Valladolid’s half and Real Madrid kept building up attacking maneuvers but was not really able to tear apart Valladolid wall of defense so far. 

2nd Half Game 

No changes after the halftime play for Real Madrid. Real Madrid started pressing hard into the D area of Valladolid right after the half-time break. So doing, at one instance in the 48th minute, as they were looking for a crack in Valladolid’s defense, Guler got a pass from Valverday inside the D box on the right side of the post, and Guler did shoot the ball at a very tight angle, but the keeper stopped the ball. The dropped ball was also nearly swiped into the post by dashing Valverde, but he missed touching the ball and the ball was cleared away. It was a good build though. 

In the 50th minute, finally, Valverde’s free-kick ball found the goalpost net of Valladolid. It was a superb ground shot, it got a slight deflection from Valladolid player and the ball went towards the far post and inside the net, away from the keeper’s reach. So at last, with all the pressure and attempts, the deadlock was broken. It was a huge relief for the Real Madrid team and the fans all over the world. After scoring the goal, Valverde went to embrace, the boss, Ancelotti. 

Upto the 51st minute, Real Madrid had created only 2 chances for a goal while Valladolid had zero chance. Though Real Madrid had been pressing the game, they had been unable to create those killer chances for scoring goals for themselves. In this game so far Mbappe and Vini looked effectiveless. The attacks were coming from the right side of the corner with the players like Rodrygo, Guler, and Valverde. 

At the end of the 51st minute, there was a counterattack led by Guler.  There were 4 to 3 defending players in the box; Guler passed the ball to Vini, in turn, Vini sensed Guler had an option for a goal, so Vini passed the ball to Guler. Guler’s left-foot shot was well blocked by a defender and the chance was lost. It was a good chance for Guler to add 2nd goal for the team. 

Guler got a yellow card while trying to stop an opponent player on a counterattack. 

In the 53rd minute, Valladolid had a thrown ball at the left side in the Real Madrid ground. The ball was received by a Valladolid player and he, in turn, gave a good pass to his teammate who was inside the D box he had a good shot at the post but was well blocked by Courtois’s hand. It was a good attempt by Valladolid and the player had a tight angle but only needed to beat the keeper. It was one of the rarest opportunities for Valladolid to score a goal in this game so far. 

There was a good attack by Real Madrid players in the 57th minute. Vini passed the ball to Guler inside the opponent box from the left side, Guler had a left-foot shot targeting at the post, but the ball hit a defender and the ball went out for a corner. It was a very fast-paced build-up and well coordinated but the attempt failed to materialise. 

At 59 the minute, Valladolid led a good attack. A player passed the ball from the right side to a running player on the left flank and inside the box. He had a good shot at the post as he had only to beat the goalkeeper and the angle was pretty good. But the ball went out on the right side high and for out. If the ball had gone toward the target, the keeper might have a very hard time stopping the ball. Valladolid’s players were creating some good chances.  

There was a quick and smart attack in the 63rd minute led by Real Madrid players. Garcia passed the ball to Vini on the left flank, and he ran forward. Vini passed the ball to Garcia and he threw the ball in front of Guler, who was running to receive it. Though opponent players were around him, Guler had a chance to send the ball bouncing into the goal, but the alert opponent keeper had no difficulty to catch the ball. Guler had some chances so far but has been unable to beat the keeper. Real Madrid had 3 shots on target until then. 

In the 67th minute, Rodrygo got the long ball from Militao on the left flank just outside the box and he rushed inside ahead and no defenders only to beat the goalkeeper. On the right side we could see Vini too and no defender to cover him either. Rodrygo instead of shooting himself, passed the ball to Vini, as he had the better angle of the goal post, but the passed ball was interfered with by a defender as he came in between the ball and Vini. I think Rodrygo’s pass ball was a bit too slow, so the defender could get it but not by Vini. Now looking back, Rodrygo should have gone for himself for the goal as he too had to just beat the goalkeeper only, and this might have been a better chance for a goal. 

Guler had another shot at the goalpost in the 69th minute. He was able to dribble past two opponent players and just inside the box from the right flank he shot with his left foot passing many defenders, but the shot was straight to the keeper and he blocked the ball. So far Guler had been very active and again and again he was the player getting shots at the opponent at the post, not Mbappe or Vinicius.  

Upto 75th minute Real Madrid’s total attacks were 28 of which 4 were from the center while 12 each attacks were from the left and right flanks. So now we find an equal number of attacks from both flanks unlike previously we heavily depended on our left flank attacks only. This way it puts much pressure on the opponent team to defend on all sides. 

In the 79th minute, Courtois sent a long high ball to Vini, Vini dribbled passed a player, and inside the box, he gave a killer pass of the ball to Mbappe. Mbappe pushed the ball into the post, he only had to beat the goalkeeper. The ball went straight into the body of the goalkeeper and the goal was denied to Mbappe. This was a golden chance for Mbappe easy and straight one, but he failed to score his first goal. 

There was a counterattack by Valladolid on the left flank and the opponent player, Bylla was rushing inside the box, but Militao was able to just intervene and the ball went out for a goal kick. If not for Militao’s quick intervention, there was a serious danger this time. 

There was another chance for Mbappe in the 86th minute of the game. Mbappe, Valverde, and Brahim led an attack after the ball was cleared for Valladolid corner. Mbappe took the passed ball from Valverde into the D box followed by two defenders behind him on the left flank and he only had to beat the goalkeeper only. He sent the ball towards the far post by his right foot, but the ball went wide outside of the post and out. Again a very open chance was missed by Mbapppe and looked like this was not his day either. A player of his caliber should not have kept on missing some very good and open chances to score goals for his team.

Mbappe was replaced by Endrick at the 88th minute. 

Militao sent a long high ball into the Valladolid half for Brahim in the 89th minute of the game. Brahim chased the ball, but no one ahead of him landed he took it inside the box and easily sent the ball to the right side of the post beating the goalkeeper who remained just standstill. Brahim made this goal look so easy and comfortable, in a similar situation while Mbappe found it quite uncomfortable and kept missing good chances. Brahim showed his quality of balance and good judgment in this performance.

A couple of long ball passes created good chances for Real Madrid players in this game,  and this should be a good plan too in future games. By this time, Real Madrid was ahead by two goals to nil for Valladolid, so Real Madrid must be winning the game.

An extra time of 6 minutes was added to the game. In the last minutes of the game, Brahim got the ball in his own half and ran into the opponent’s field with skilful movement beating two opponent players and passing the ball to Endrick, who had just replaced Mbappe 10 minutes ago only. On receiving the ball, Endrick beats two players and shoots the goal from the right side of the box. Though it was a difficult and tight angle, luckily the ball went into the goal post precisely and the 3rd goal of the game for Real Madrid was scored. Endrick found his 1st goal in 10 minutes while Mbappe could not find one in more than 85 minutes at this first game at Bernabeu Stadium. 

We can see here a clear distinction why Endrick could score even in such a tight position because he had power and precision in his ball and hence the goal. On the other hand, Mbapppe’s balls lacked both power and precision, so he kept failing to score even though he had many open chances for the goal to score. I hope Mbappe too can see his weaknesses in today’s game and hope to see him doing better in coming games. 

Federico Valverde was the man of the match of this game for his 1st goal and his all-round contribution in the game. Similarly, I think Vini, Rodrygo, and Brahim also played well and contributed much to the game. 

Statistics

Real Madrid       vs       Valladolid

9              Shots on target       0

5              Blocked Shots         5

64%         Possession              36%

20             Crosses                   13

4               Counter Attacks     9

0              GoalKeeper saves   6