Madrid wants to maintain top-level competition and is determined to beat the lower team, Elche
Lineups of Players
Real Madrid XI: Thibaut Courtois; Nacho, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos (c), Ferland Mendy; Federico Valverde, Casemiro; Lucas Vazquez, Isco, Vinicius Junior; Karim Benzema.
Elche XI: Edgar Badia; Antonio Barragan, Dani Calvo, Gonzalo Verdu (c), Johan Mojica; Fidel, Raul Guti, Ivan Marcone, Tete Morente; Guido Carrillo, Lucas Boye.
The course of the match
8′ – Varane tries to complete a wild ball as a result of cooperation between Valverde and Benzema which does not work perfectly. However, his shot went very high.
17′ – Madrid completely controlled the start of the first half but their efforts were not fruitful.
29′ – Madrid’s attack is starting to look better, but Badia manages to save Isco’s shot right across the line.
36′ – WIDE! Benzema skipped a golden opportunity with his shot from close range still wide of Badia’s goal.
39′ – Morente’s cross really gave Madrid a hard time. The ball escapes from Courtois’s arms but the wild ball fails to be struck by anyone.
45+1′ – Vazquez’s cross failed to be continued by his colleagues. The ball just popped out.
HT: Madrid 0-0 Elche
50′ – Benzema takes a spin to finish Mendy’s pass. Unfortunately the shot was still hitting the outer net.
56′ – Ramos is furious! He appeared to be dragged to the ground by Marcone in the box while trying to get the corner from a corner, but the referee gave Elche a free kick instead.
59′ – RESCUE! Carrillo had a chance to put Elche in front but he missed a shot and Courtois raised a hand to block the effort. From the same attack, the visitors wanted a penalty for Ramos’ challenge on Carrillo in the box, but the referee disagreed.
61′ – GOAL! Elche managed to steal the lead after Calvo finished Morente’s cross overtaking Varane!
STATISTICS: Elche is winless in their last 10 away LaLiga matches (D3 L7), including defeats in the last four. They have not lost five or more consecutive away matches in the same campaign in the competition since 1988-89 (12).
71′ – Casemiro’s header took advantage of Kroos’ free kick and still deviated from Badia’s goal.
73′ – GOAL! The combination of Kroos and Modric was successfully completed by Benzema!
79′ – Casemiro shoots narrowly wide of the target as Badia loses his reflex as the ball arrives.
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