With an eye on the Copa del Rey.
12 points behind Barcelona, Real Madrid signed their biggest win of the season, 6-0 against Valladolid, three days before traveling to Camp Nou to try to comeback in the Copa del Rey, led by Karim Benzema who scored three goals in seven minutes to show that the break has helped him to get in tune.
The game began at the Santiago Bernabéu with whistles in the stands after two dangerous approaches from Valladolid caused by the soft local defense. The most dangerous, a shot from Roque Mesa to the left post of the goal defended by a Thibaut Courtois who made nothing of the inconvenience that made him leave the Belgian camp six days ago.
Nor did it take long for Real Madrid to leave the whistles behind. He did not need to force the machine, three days after the Copa del Rey classic, to get the white and purple team out of the game based on goals.
The first came in the 22nd minute, prompted by a robbery in the Frenchman Eduardo Camavinga’s own field that helped Real Madrid to take advantage, for the first time, of the risky approach of José Rojo ‘Pacheta’. Valladolid came out with five defenders, but put up a defense with great height and individual markings that cost them dearly.
The Brazilian Rodrygo Goes completed the counterattack and took a load off his shoulders after 16 games without scoring in LaLiga Santander -19 without taking penalties into account. It had been 168 days since he saw a goal in the domestic competition, in which he has scored five goals.
It helped Rodrygo to make up for it and Rel Madrid to unleash its offensive power, led by Benzema. He did not reach as much as the Brazilian, but the Frenchman was also going through a bad streak in the League, since he had not scored since February 15 with his double against Elche.
Only in the ‘Champions’ did he find his peak of form, with his three goals against Liverpool in the round of 16; but Benzema arrived in time to overcome doubts regarding his performance and that of his team.
The defeat in the league classic before the break left the league title impossible, 12 points apart, and on Wednesday Real Madrid visit the Camp Nou again, this time with the need to overcome the 0-1 loss in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals. And Benzema turned doubts into optimism with a hat-trick in seven minutes.
The Frenchman took advantage of the doubts of goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo and central defender Jawad El Yamiq in a good lateral cross at mid-height from Brazilian Vinicius Junior to score his first goal, the 2-0, ducking to finish off with a header at the far post.
Just three minutes later he saw the goal again with a shot from the edge of the area that El Yamiq could not stop and Sergio Asenjo, poorly positioned, did not stretch to try to reach it.
Real Madrid was a cyclone commanded by a Benzema who certified his hat-trick in the 36th minute with an acrobatic shot, from a Chilean half, taking advantage of the passivity of the Valladolid defense. He finished off a cross from Rodrygo alone inside the small area without even having to lift his left foot off the ground.
After the 4-0 draw, an image was seen that perfectly defined the first half at the Santiago Bernabéu. In the celebration of the goal, Vinicius asked his teammates for more, while Monchu addressed his team with a “what do we do?”, trying to find an explanation for a painful result.
Neither did the Valladolid fans who gathered at the Santiago Bernabéu, who chanted “out, out” at half-time, nor ‘Pacheta’, who made a triple change recovering the defense of four, a more common scheme trying to ensure that the injury was not elderly.
It helped to make this happen that Real Madrid slowed down, with their minds already set on the Camp Nou. The match was closed.
So much so that the Italian Carlo Ancelotti brought on the Belgian Eden Hazard, who had not played for Real Madrid since January 3, against Cacereño in the Copa del Rey. Since then, nothing. Almost no warm up in the band and statements that his relationship with his coach was non-existent.
The latter seemed to close the doors, but the game was so dominated that Ancelotti gave him minutes in minute 64. And he received whistles from his fans. Five minutes later, Jesús Vallejo made his debut in LaLiga Santander.
Benzema, Vinicius and Alaba left. Minutes to rotate that Marco Asensio took advantage of to increase his goal tally to eight this season, six in the domestic championship after seven consecutive substitutions.
In the 91st minute, Lucas Vázquez, with the assistance of a Hazard who was participatory in his 29 minutes on the pitch, closed a win that gave Real Madrid wings ahead of the Copa del Rey and left Valladolid with 27 points. one above relegation.
– Datasheet:
6 – Real Madrid: Courtois; Lucas Vazquez, Militao, Praise (Vallejo, m.69), Camavinga; Tchouameni, Kroos, Marco Asensio; Rodrygo (Odriozola, m.82), Vinicius (Ceballos, m.68) and Benzema (Hazard, m.64).
0 – Valladolid: Asenjo; Luis Pérez (Kike Pérez, m.46), Fresneda, Joaquín, El Yamiq, Lucas Rosa (David Torres, m.61); Roque Mesa (Óscar Plano, m.46), Martin Hongla (Álvaro Aguado, m.46), Monchu; Gonzalo Plata (Selim Amallah, m.70) and Sergio León.
Goals: 1-0, min. 22: Rodrigo. 2-0 min. 29: Benzema. 3-0 min. 32: Benzema. 4-0 min. 36: Benzema. 5-0 min. 72: Asensio. 6-0 min. 91: Lucas Vazquez.
Referee: Juan Luis Pulido Santana (Canary Committee). Admonished Fresneda (m.64) on behalf of the Valladolid.
Incidents: match corresponding to the twenty-seventh day of La Liga Santander played at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in front of 59,400 spectators. Before the match, Real Madrid’s Juvenil A team, coached by Álvaro Arbeloa, offered their fans the Copa del Rey champion’s trophy won on March 11.
EFE