real madrid vs valladolid. Player Ratings: Real Madrid 3-0 Real Valladolid; 2024 La Liga

 

Goals from Valverde, Brahim, and Endrick gave Madrid their first La Liga victory of the new season.

Full match player ratings:

Thibaut Courtois—7: A quiet evening at the office for the Big Belgian who had only two saves to make on the night.

Dani Carvajal—7: Never tested defensively and safe in possession. Finished the game with 4 tackles and 3 clearances.

Rudiger—7: Found Mbappe with an over the top pass that the Frenchman latched on to for a volley. The center back was fantastic in transition and never tested by Andre or Meseguer.

Militao—8: Easily won his duel with Marcos Andre. Three games into the season and appears to be back to his absolute best.

Fran Garcia—6: Did well with transition moments and showing off his recovery speed but offered little in the final third outside of one low driven cross to Arda.

Tchouameni—5.5: Played too safe in possession during the first half. Did improve in the second 45, upping the tempo and attempting to be more vertical.

Fede Valverde—7.5: Scored the go-ahead goal early in the second half from a free kick that the Uruguayan smashed from 25-yards out. Fantastic on defensive transitions and occupying the right spots in “rest defense”. Both he and Tchouameni struggled in the first half with so much possession and neither able to play that eye-of-the-needle pass in between the lines.

Arda Guler—6.5: Interchanged between the #10 position and the right wing but his teammates struggled to find him in between the lines in the first half. The game opened up in the second half after Valverde’s goal and Arda had two good goal scoring opportunities. In the 63rd minute, had yet another volley attempt inside the box. The Turk was visibly frustrated with his lack of clinical touch on the day. Finished the game with a total of four shots on target.

Rodrygo—6.5: Produced a brilliant solo run in the first half that deserved a better finish to the play. Has been the attacker with the most rhythm and best form to start the season. His dribbling was silky smooth and looked to combine with quick one-two’s at any given chance. Had a golden opportunity to score himself or serve Vinicius with a simple tap-in but squandered the opportunity with an under-hit pass.

Vinicius Junior—6.5: Found Arda Guler twice in the second half with mature decision making. Played an inch-perfect outside of the boot pass to Mbappe but the Frenchman could not manage the right connection. Much improved in the second half vs the first half like most of the team.

Kylian Mbappe—5: Made a number of quick runs in behind the defense to start the game, with Rudiger finding him on one such play. His off ball movement is not always seen by his teammates, with chemistry still developing. Disappointing finish after being found inside the six yard box by Vinicius Junior. His last play of the game was a 1-v-1 after using his speed in transition and his toe-poke again failed to find the back of the net.

Substitutions:

Brahim Diaz—9: Combined well with teammates while on the pitch and interchanged between the right and left, playing primarily as a left midfielder in a 4-4-2. Scored the second goal of the game in the 88th minute by lobbing the goalkeeper. Also contributed with an assist to Endrick in the 96th minute to sentence the match.

Luka Modric—7: In his new role, consistently brings serenity and fluidity to the match in the final 30 minutes.

Dani Ceballos—7: Provided an additional midfielder to see out the game. Did well in tight spots and was always an option in possession.

Endrick—8: 86th minute substitution for Kylian Mbappe as the central striker. Fiesty entrance, immediately coming in and slide tackling his opponent. Valverde attempted to find the Brazilian with a low driven pass to the back post but the Valladolid defense was able to clear. In what felt like destiny, the 18-year-old scored a brilliant goal in the 96th minute after being fed by Brahim Diaz.