Real Madrid were unable to add to their recent run of positive results after a 2-2 draw against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium overnight.
The festive season break gave players a much needed rest, but only further fuelled hopes of a top place takeover by Los Blancos. Despite a public backing by President Florentino Perez, pressure was still on coach Rafael Benitez to achieve more before the campaign’s end.
With this in mind, the visitors got off to a flying start as Frenchman Karim Benzema finished a wonderful piece of play by teammates Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
Yet the early intensity was not maintained and Valencia were able to gain their own momentum. Dani Parejo converted via the penalty spot to level the scoreline just moments before halftime.
Real rallied to gain the lead in the second period of play, despite being reduced to ten men with the 68th minute sending-off of Mateo Kovacic.
A header from Bale restored Los Galacticos’ lead, but was shortly cancelled out by Paco Alcacer only eight minutes prior to the final whistle.
Pressure is back on you, Benitez.
Valencia
Jaume Domenech – 6: Could do little to stop both of Real’s goals, but did look strong in between them.
Barragan – 6: Sat deep and made quick bursts forward.
Aymen Abdennour – 4.5: Was nervous and made defensive errors because of this, including a wayward pass to Benzema prior to the opening goal.
Joao Cancelo – 6.5: Was fully concentrated with his role defending further forward, frustrating the Real attack.
Aderllan Santos – 7: Another who was focused on his defensive duties and picked up after Abdennour.
Lucas Orban – 6: Stopped crosses coming in from the left-flank.
Andre Gomes – 6.5: Came forward at every opportunity and forced Pepe to bring him down in the area.
Danilo – 5: Strong in defence and contributed when needed in the forward line.
Rodrigo De Paul – 5: Played an important part in his side’s second goal.
Dani Parejo- 7: Controlled the pace of the game and scored the penalty for Valencia’s first goal.
Paco Alcacer – 6: Headed in the equaliser to make it 2-2, but was isolated for majority of the match.
Substitutes
Javi Fuego – N/A: Came on in the final few minutes.
Alvaro Negredo – N/A: Had an opportunity to score a late winner, but could not beat Keylor Navas.
Rodrigo – N/A: Setup Alcacer’s goal.
https://youtu.be/0RLq6RBF4t4
Real Madrid
Keylor Navas – 5: Was let down by his defence during both of the opposition goals, but made a marvellous save from Negredo’s late strike.
Pepe – 2: Played well for the first half-an-hour, but conceded a penalty and was continually caught off guard.
Sergio Ramos – 4.5: Average night for the Spaniard, excellent first-half but was average in the latter stages and could not control balls coming into the box.
Danilo – 5: Much of the action was on the other flank and hence he was able to come forward into the attack when appropriate.
Marcelo – 5: Locked in an important battle with Barragan on the right-flank and of course could not resist coming forward when given the opportunity.
Gareth Bale – 6: Played an important role in the first goal and scored the second.
Luka Modric – 6: Once again pulled the midfield strings for Madrid, got forward well and tracked back to help the defence after the send-off of Kovacic.
Toni Kroos – 7: Was the creator for most of his side’s attacking plays and set up Bale for the second.
Mateo Kovacic – 2: Sent-off after a poor sliding tackle in the second-half.
Cristiano Ronaldo- 5: Did set up the opener, but struggled to get in behind the backline.
Karim Benzema – 6: Scored the opening goal, yet was then shut down continually by the opposition fullbacks.
Substitutes:
Lucas Vasquez – 6: Replaced Benzema and had dangerous pace in the final-third.
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