Keylor Navas's importance should not be overlooked and other things learned from Real Madrid's victory

Andy West 02:37 21/08/2017
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  • Real Madrid’s winning streak shows no signs of abating as the European champions began their defence of La Liga with a comfortable 3-0 win at Deportivo la Coruna.

    Gareth Bale, Casemiro and Toni Kroos were on target for the visitors, but Madrid’s night at La Riazor ended on a sour note when captain Sergio Ramos was shown the 23rd red card of his Real career.

    Here, we take a look at three things we learned from Estadio Municipal de Riazor.

    Keylor Navas’s importance should not be overlooked

    The scoreline makes it look like a comfortable win for Real Madrid and ultimately it was, but the story of the night could have been so different if Deportivo striker Florin Andone had converted one of his big early chances when the game was scoreless.

    The reason he didn’t was Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who kept out both of Andone’s efforts with excellent saves – and that is something the Costa Rican has done on a regular basis in the last couple of years.

    Navas is a strange goalkeeper, often looking vulnerable and error-prone but always seeming to rescue his reputation with an ability to pull off spectacular saves – as he again demonstrated with a late penalty save from Andone to preserve his clean sheet.

    He initially arrived in Madrid from Levante as an unheralded short-term measure but his agile shot-stopping ability has allowed him to become undisputed first choice, and his importance to the team should not be dismissed.

    Zinedine Zidane is his own man

    One thing is certain about Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane: he does not bow to public opinion.

    Heading into last night’s game having scored brilliant goals in both legs of the Super Cup triumph over Barcelona, Marco Asensio was the name on everyone’s lips. Everyone, that is, except Zidane, who promptly left the 21 year-old on the bench in favour of Gareth Bale.

    Welsh star Bale had endured a poor pre-season amid talk of a move to Manchester United, but he rewarded the faith of his manager by netting the opening goal of the game.

    Although that was a simple tap-in from two yards, Zidane will feel justified that his decision to leave out the man of the moment paid off, especially when Bale later teed up Toni Kroos for the third goal. And it showed again that the French coach will continue to pick the team he wants to pick, not the team other people would choose.

    Sergio Ramos never learns

    An incident sure to generate plenty of discussion in the next few days occurred early in the second half, as Deportivo winger Zakaria Bakkali lay flat out with an injury that eventually forced him off.

    Madrid were in possession but skipper Sergio Ramos refused to kick out the ball, sparking a furious reaction from the home fans and players. To compound his petulance, Ramos then needlessly confronted Deportivo defender Fabian Schar, pushing him firmly in the face.

    Referee Jose Luis Gonzalez was lenient, only deeming the incident worthy of a yellow card, so Ramos got away with it. But not for long, because he was eventually sent off after an injury time aerial challenge which, in his defence, looked pretty innocuous. That decision was harsh, but Ramos should have already been dismissed for his earlier indiscretion so he can’t really complain.

    It was, of course, by no means the first time that Ramos has allowed the red mist to descend. And although he is now 31, his occasional tendency to act like a three-year old appears to be undiminished. Will he ever learn? Probably not.

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