Real Madrid 4-1 Elche (Rüdiger, Valverde, Huijsen & Güler). An easy win… This is my immediate reaction. Get more: Player ratings, interview snippets and a podcast.
It was back to the routine league fixtures after the high’s of the midweek trouncing of Manchester City – and Elche would be looking to bring Real Madrid right back down to earth if they could produce a shock. Thiago Pitarch continued to start, as well as hat-trick hero Fede Valverde. The bench was made up of numerous Castilla players once again. Dani Carvajal returned to the line-up, sporting the captains armband in the process.
The first half was very passive. Neither team created anything until the end of the half, and didn’t appear concerned at the game’s slow pace. That first chance did fall to Madrid, falling to Antonio Rüdiger specifically – after a Fede Valverde free-kick was parried his way, only for him to volley the ball past the keeper. It would be two before half-time, as Fede Valverde continued his ridiculous form in-front of goal, faking a shot before arrowing a ball into the top corner. Half-time, 2-0 to Real Madrid, with little effort spared.
Brahim Díaz came close straight away after the restart, but it soon went quiet again. That was, until the Castilla boys came in. Manuel Ángel, Daniel Yànez César Palacios and Diego Aguado were introduced – and they brought an instant sense of freedom onto the pitch with them. Yánez instantly got the assist for the third, finding the head of Dean Huijsen expertly. Madrid played really well after this, playing some neat combination passes with each other, creating more, and entertaining the home crowd. Elche managed to get on the scoresheet after an unfortunate touch from Manuel Ángel led to an own goal. A stain on an otherwise great performance, both from Ángel and the team. Arda Güler decided that it should be 4-1 from the half-way line, opting the lob the keeper and cap off a hugely entertaining display. Thibaut Courtois made his usual world class type of save to deny another late goal, after a header flew his way from mere yards out. That was sadly all there was time for, as full-time whistle blew with the scoreline reading 4-1 to Real Madrid. Was that the most entertaining La Liga game of the season?
