Isco shone for Real Madrid on the last day of La Liga as Los Blancos played out a 2-2 draw against Leganes at the Butarque.
The La Liga called curtains on a roller-coaster of a season as Real Madrid play out a 2-2 draw at Estadio Municipal de Butarque against Leganes. This draw was barely a dent for Real, who were crowned champions earlier in the week, but it turned out to be fatal for the hosts, as they were officially relegated.
Leganes begun the game with intent and were able to put Real Madrid on the backfoot in the opening minutes. The newly-crowned champions gained control quickly and scored the opener in the 9th minute through Sergio Ramos, who was left unmarked in the box on a set-piece. Bryan Gil’s goal late in the first half evened out the scores.
The second half was more of the same, especially after Nacho Fernandez came on. Isco got his second assist of the night as he played a brilliant pass to Marco Asensio, who made no mistake in finishing off the move. Leganes pulled one back in the 78th minute, but it did not turn out to be enough despite late penalty appeals. The Hard Tackle now runs the rule of Zinedine Zidane’s men.
Alphonse Areola: 7/10
Leganes came to this game with the purpose of doing whatever it takes to stay up. They were able to force the champions to drop points, but it could have been a lot worse for Real Madrid had it not been for Areola. The Frenchman was a bit clumsy on the ball but finished the game with 5 saves, including a heroic effort late in the game.
Lucas Vazquez: 5/10
Lucas Vazquez started the game as a makeshift right-back as Dani Carvajal was given rest to avoid fatigue. While the Spaniard usually comes in clutch during these moments, he was far from his best against Leganes.
Vazquez attempted 5 tackles, 4 of which ended in fouls; he completed none of his 3 crosses and won only 5 of his 14 ground duels. Gil made Vazquez look stumped and he was lucky to escape without a booking.
Eder Militao: 7/10
Eder Militao had big boots to fill playing in Raphael Varane’s position. The Brazilian was able to do enough to hold off the Leganes forwards, who had Real Madrid pinned down throughout the game. He made 7 clearances, four tackles and won 80% (4/5) of his ground duels. Did not come through with his passing, though, completing just 1 of his 7 attempted long passes.
Sergio Ramos: 7.5/10
It would have been a tough decision not to bench Sergio Ramos on the last day of the season, but it paid itself off immediately when he scored the opener. The Real Madrid captain was able to marshal a tired defence through the last 90 of the season, even though he was subbed off at half time. Before that, he completed 96% of his passes, of which five were sublime long balls.
Ferland Mendy: 7/10
Mendy was the only first string Real Madrid defender, who played through the entire 90 minutes. He made 2 key passes and won 5 of his 8 ground duels. Moreover, he also completed 100% (3/3) of his dribbles and won two set-pieces, one of which was converted by Ramos through a header. The Frenchman was decisive in defence and did not let Aitor Ruibal get the better of him.
Federico Valverde: 7/10
Valverde assumed responsibility on the right side of the midfield three and was given the responsibility of halting Bryan Gil. He was not entirely successful, but did enough to kill the tempo of the Leganes midfield. He completed 100% (3/3) of his dribbles, won 80% (4/5) of his ground duels and ended the game with a 90% passing accuracy. Not his best, but still extremely influential.
Casemiro: 7/10
Casemiro continued his top-notch work in the centre of the park as he was faced with a motivated Leganes midfield. The Brazilian had to constantly cover for Ramos in the first half and then Nacho in the second before being subbed off at the hour mark. In his time on the pitch he completed 100% (5/5) of his long balls, won 6/9 of his ground duels and was able to win a free-kick through quick footwork.
Isco: 8/10
Isco was given a relatively deeper role on Sunday compared to the areas he usually likes to cover. He started on the left of Casemiro and was responsible for both the Real Madrid goals in the form of assists.
The Spaniard was the most involved player on the pitch and delivered a tremendous performance after ages. Isco also created two additional goal-scoring chances – both of which ended with a shot off target, and won 5 of his 8 ground duels.
Marco Asensio: 7.5/10
Since returning to action after nearly a year, Asensio has constantly delivered solid performances. He came up clutch on Sunday as well, scoring Real Madrid’s second of the game. Additionally, he completed 100% (5/5) of his long balls, won 5/8 of his ground duels and 2 fouls. Asensio did his part in defence as well, constantly dropping deep against an opposition who were quite fired up.
Karim Benzema: 6/10
Benzema being hardly influential and lethargic is not something you would have probably heard this season before. However, against Leganes, Benzema just did not come through for Los Blancos. His only shot of the game was off target and he created absolutely nothing for his fellow forwards.
Moreover, the Frenchman look tired on the ball and lost possession 7 times, which is not a lot, but he touched the ball only 25 times throughout the game. That said, we can expect him to come up clutch for Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.
Vinicius Junior: 6.5/10
Real Madrid’s forwards were completely thrown off their game on Sunday, although through little fault of their own. Vinicius completed just 4 his 8 attempted dribbles and lost possession 13 times. In fact, the Brazilian did more in defence than in attack.
The Brazilian was seen dropping as deep as Mendy to cover passing lanes and did not hesitate to make tackles. It could be a crucial toss up between him and Rodrygo for that final spot in attack against Manchester City.
SUBSTITUTES
Nacho: 7/10
Nacho had more to do in defence than the person he replaced, Sergio Ramos. As Leganes started to press even higher and counter faster, Nacho made 2 tackles, 2 interceptions and 4 clearances. He was quite clumsy, though, which would have stemmed from playing his first game since February.
Brahim Diaz: 6.5/10
Brahim Diaz came on with half-an-hour remaining, and did more in the game than Vinicius Jr. or Benzema. For example, he took more shots on target than both of them combined and also made more key passes than the two. The youngster also won 1 tackle and conceded 1 foul, but showed tremendous work off the ball in terms of his movement and defensive work.
Toni Kroos: 5.5/10
Toni Kroos came on for Casemiro with 30 minutes to go and brought in more calmness and stability to the midfield. However, naturally, he was playing out of position and did not do enough to stop Leganes from attacking in the second half.
Luka Jovic: N/A
Played 30 minutes but did not do enough to warrant a rating.