Real Madrid continued their unbeaten run in the La Liga as Gareth Bale’s heroics helped the league leaders to maintain their two point cushion at the top going into the international break.
Coming at the back of a disappointing midweek outing against Legia Warsaw in the Champions League, Real Madrid returned to winning ways dispatching a spirited Leganes side 3-0 at home. It certainly wasn’t the smoothest victory for the Los Blancos as the scoreline seems to project but at the moment Zinedine Zidane’s side would take all they need in their pursuit to secure a first league crown since 2011-12.
The Hard Tackle delves into some take aways for Real Madrid at the back of another victory that maintained their unbeaten record in the league this season.
Clinical Gareth Bale
The Welshman looks like a completely different figure since signing his contract extension with the club last week. Following his superb performance midweek against Legia Warsaw in the Champions League, he had a man-of-the-match performance against Leganes.
Gareth Bale’s week:
Mon: Sign new world-record deal.
Wed: Scores Real Madrid’s fastest ever UCL goal (0:57)
Sun: Scores twice vs. Leganes pic.twitter.com/urwwhIaPst
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) November 6, 2016
Bale scored off the only two chances Real Madrid managed in a rather lethargic team performance in the first-half. The Los Blancos dampened the tempo of the game against a spirited Leganes side who were looking to attack and close the league leaders down from the word go. While they failed to convert their chances at one end, they also let Real attack them on the counter at the other end and Bale duly obliged when he was offered his opportunities, much to the delight of Zidane.
There have been lot of peaks and troughs during Gareth Bale’s career at the Santiago Bernabeu but needless to say, he is on a good run of form at the moment and his contract extension last week only seems to have galvanised the Welshman.
Lacklustre Ronaldo
On the contrary, Cristiano Ronaldo has probably endured a couple of his poorest games this season for Real Madrid. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that the Welshman’s brilliance on the evening helped overshadow Ronaldo’s poor showing at the Bernabeu. The Portuguese superstar doesn’t seem to be in his element in recent weeks. However, a contract extension may well help change that.
Ronaldo vs Leganes:
0 shots
1 successful dribble
36 passes (62% accurate)
Lost the ball 13 times
SIUUUUUUUpic.twitter.com/UZTe2eIRLN
— Missi (@MessiLob) November 6, 2016
Real Madrid, immediately after the game, made official their contract offer to Ronaldo keeping him at the Spanish capital till 2021. The Los Blancos will continue to tie down players to the club with new offers before their transfer ban commences from the January window, a suspension where they are not permitted to be involved in any player negotiations, within and outside the club.
Has the Real Madrid title challenge been issued it’s true test of character yet?
Not really. The Los Blancos have only faced Villarreal out of the Top 5 in the Spanish Premiership up until now. While on their day they have managed to dispatch teams with ease on quite a few occasions, Real have come away with rather unconvincing narrow victories. Even if that is a hallmark of a side challenging for the title, their style of play hasn’t really appealed to the neutral supporter, which has led one to question whether they’d be able to break up teams like Atletico, Barcelona and Sevilla.
The answer, though, isn’t far away as the Champions League winners will be approaching arguably the toughest phase of their league campaign once they return from their international break with fixtures against Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona to be played before Christmas. And Zidane could ill-afford for his side to capitulate like they did against Legia Warsaw during their European outing when they face their bitter rivals.
That said, Real deserve due credit for maintaining the unbeaten league record well into the month of November. However, based on their performances this season, it’d be far too premature to pit them as title favourites. The Los Blancos will have to elevate their game if they are to establish their title credentials going into a defining period of the La Liga campaign, and the boss will hope stars like Cristiano Ronaldo rise to the occasion to aid them in their efforts.