Real Madrid were able to take only one point away from the Estadio de la Ceramica from their penultimate match in this edition of La Liga against Villarreal last night. The Merengues were highly impressive in some phases of the match, but their defense really let them down.
It was truly a game of two halves, as neither of the sides had any real prize at stake in this game. The first half was clearly a highly enjoyable affair for the Real Madrid fans, as Lucas Vazquez and Joselu both scored a goal, and Arda Guler also got a brace.
However, the start of the second half was nothing short of a disaster for the men in white, as Alexander Sorloth, who had also scored a goal in the first half, scored three more goals within the first 16 minutes of the 2nd half. With these four goals, the Norwegian is now the favorite to win the Pichichi this year.
Both teams made some adjustments, and no goals were scored after that point as the match ended in a 4-4 draw.
One can argue that there was no real pressure on any of the teams, which might explain the tame defensive efforts. However, Ancelotti will still have some significant lessons to take away from this game.
With no holding midfielder, and both the fullbacks not too adept on the defensive side of the game, one could have expected that Real Madrid would struggle defensively in this match, especially against a side as good as Villarreal.
However, even with the fact that he has just recovered from a long-term injury, one could not have expected Eder Militao to put in such a horrific performance as he did before Ancelotti had to ultimately get him off the pitch.
The Brazilian was unable to cope with Sorloth throughout the match, and the Norwegian beat him too easily, scoring four goals in the process. Militao could have scored an own goal himself as he headed the ball towards his own net which was kept out only by a quick reaction from Lunin.
With this game, Militao might have effectively ruled himself out from competing for a starting spot in the UCL final.
Dani Ceballos, who had been putting in some encouraging shifts in the last few matches, was also well below par, and it was his mistake in his own box that led to the Yellow Submarine opening the score in the first half. Villarreal were able to take advantage of the lack of defensive awareness from Ceballos and Fran García on Real Madrid’s left throughout the night.
On the other hand, there were some positive aspects to take away from this game as well, with Arda Guler’s performance on the right wing being the most prominent. The Turk added two goals in the first half, the first coming off from a Brahim Diaz pass which Guler received with a clever turn that made enough space for him in the Villarreal box to finish his chance successfully.
The second goal came from a good diagonal run into the Villarreal box, one of the several that Guler made throughout the match, which was found by Lucas Vazquez. The youngster took a few steps towards the goal before finishing his chance brilliantly and scoring from a difficult angle.
Lucas Vazquez also stood out offensively, as he himself scored a goal and provided two assists, one for Guler and another for Joselu. Brahim Diaz also provided two assists, but was not as conspicuous as Real Madrid fans have started expecting him to be.
But despite these good performances, Real Madrid were able to take only a single point from this match, and will now not be able to reach 99 points in this La Liga campaign. Hopefully, the Merengues will put in a more all-round performance in their last game of the league against Real Betis this Sunday.
