Player Ratings: Real Madrid 2-0 Gladbach
Real Madrid have sealed their place in the knockout stage of this season’s Champions League with a convincing win against Borussia Monchengladbach. Karim Benzema scored twice to help Los Blancos top their group.
The Whites didn’t take long to break the deadlock, managing to score after just nine minutes. Lucas Vazquez supplied a delightful cross for Benzema who finished with aplomb. Shortly after it was Rodrygo’s turn to dish in a perfect cross, finding Benzema who headed in his and Madrid’s second of the night.
On what was his 527th game for Real Madrid, a record number of appearances for a non-Spaniard for the club, Karim Benzema netted his 68th and 69th Champions League goals. Real Madrid will find out who they’ll face in the next round on Monday. These are our player ratings:
Starting XI:
Thibaut Courtois: 7/10
A very quite night for the Belgian. A spectator throughout.
Lucas Vazquez: 9/10
Showed yet again why Zidane trusts him so much. Lucas terrorised the Gladbach defence and it was his cross that led to the opener for Real Madrid.
Raphael Varane: 8/10
A quite evening for the Frenchman. Didn’t have much to do but did his job well when required.
Sergio Ramos: 8/10
Ferland Mendy: 8/10
Toni Kroos: 9/10
Had the freedom to control the midfield and dominate the tempo of the game with his vast array of passes. A classic Kroos performance.
Casemiro: 8/10
Misplaced a couple of passes but put in a decent shift to allow Modric and Kroos to have more freedom to move forward.
Luka Modric: 9/10
Yet another magisterial performance from the Croatian. Absolutely dominated the midfield to the point where the Gladbach players were chasing shadows. Unlucky not to have scored with a shot that hit the post and then again with a goal ruled out for offside. Truly an incredible player.
Rodrygo: 8/10
Karim Benzema: 9/10
The man for the big moments. Karim was hungry for goals tonight and it showed from the get-go. Took his chances brilliantly which helped ease the pressure off Madrid. Could’ve easily had 3 or 4 goals tonight.
Vinicius Jr: 6/10
Substitutions:
Asensio: 5/10 – Came on to provide some fresh legs with the game already won.
Sergio Arribas: 5/10 – Made his Champions League debut for Real Madrid. A night to remember for the highly talented youngster from ‘La Fabrica’.
