Analysis as Cristiano Ronaldo struggles without Karim Benzema while Zinedine Zidane is bold with his tactics

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  • Dani Ceballos scored twice on his full debut as Real Madrid bounced back from a shock midweek defeat to Real Betis to close to within four points of La Liga leaders Barcelona with a 2-1 win at Alaves.

    With the attention very much fixed on boss Zinedine Zidane we analyse his performance in the much-needed victory.

    STATISTICS

    Real Madrid

    Shots – 21 

    Shots on target – 7

    Pass success – 89%

    Aerial duel Success – 50%

    Dribbles won – 11

    Tackles – 14

    Possession – 67%

    Zinedine Zidane watches on as Real Madrid edge past Alaves

    Zinedine Zidane watches on as Real Madrid edge past Alaves

    TACTICS

    After dropping seven points already this season, Zidane displayed some real courage with his starting XI as Luka Modric and Gareth Bale were both demoted to the bench while the youthful exuberance of Dani Ceballos, Isco, Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio all started alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in a 4-3-3.

    Save for the well-taken double from Ceballos, Zidane’s intention to inject some much-needed energy into his side ultimately fell flat with their domination of possession only leading to slow-moving recycling of the ball rather than persistent penetration.

    Credit to Alaves who despite losing all five of their opening league fixtures and failing to score until a well-worked equaliser, actually played some neat football, causing Real plenty of problems on the counter.

    And while Real looked a little toothless in attack, they lacked bite at the back as well – a worrying sign for Zidane. Dani Carvajal was horrendous again while the protection of Casemiro saved the out-of-position Sergio Ramos on a couple of occasions.

    Perhaps the rotation led to the disjointed performance but one of the biggest takeaways was Ronaldo’s lack of impact as the No9. Alongside Karim Benzema, the Portguese is highly effective but his link-up play against Alaves was borderline negligible for Real and that’s something Zidane must address.

    Not Frenchman’s finest hour but ultimately the three points is what mattered most and they delivered.

    A frustrating day for Real star Ronaldo

    A frustrating day for Real star Ronaldo

    TOUCHLINE PRESENCE

    Motionless and emotionless, Zidane was anything but animated. Still, there were signs of stress when Alfonso Pedraza struck the post twice and a tinge of frustration when Ramos skied horribly over with what seemed a routine finish.

    Zidane tries to encourage his ponderous side against Alaves

    Zidane tries to encourage his ponderous side against Alaves

    VERDICT

    Madrid were made to work for their victory but there are issues for Zidane to resolve, namely Ronaldo as the No9 now he doesn’t have Benzema alongside him and the concerning form of Carvajal who will have Nacho competing for the right-back slot.

    RATING: 6/10

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