Real Madrid Vs. Granada Match Recap: Benzema Scores Two, Giving Madrid Three

Santiago Bernabéu was almost like home for Granada. They must have had more than 5,000 fans in the stands chanting louder than Real Madrid's crowd. While the final score was very good for Real Madrid, the way the team played was not very impressive.

Karim Benzema was certainly the best player in the pitch, completing another very good game, both by creating chances and scoring goals. Varane, meanwhile, demonstrated that he is a very capable center back.

Benzema scored Real Madrid's first goal. Cristiano and Özil played well outside the box; the German received the ball back from the Portuguese and passed it with his back heel to Benzema. He was in the right spot and pushed the ball inside the net to give Madrid a 1-0 lead in just 20 minutes.

The players were already thinking they were going to have an easy game when Uche crossed the ball from the right wing and found Mikel Rico without coverage. Rico was Khedira's man in that play, but the German lost track of him and allowed Granada to tie the game up.

This goal encouraged Granada to try a bit harder, and they even had a good chance to put themselves ahead with a good long shot stopped by Casillas. When things had taken a turn for the worse for Real Madrid, Sergio Ramos scored another corner-kick goal. He has very good offensive presence in this kind of play, and his goal allowed Real Madrid to finish the half with a 2-1 lead.

Just two minutes after the second half started, Higuaín received the ball inside the box and scored the third goal for his team. The Argentinian player looked a little bit out of place in this offense. He was always in the center of the field, when Özil, Benzema and Cristiano needed that space to show off their best skills.

Now the game appeared to be almost over, as it was almost impossible for Granada to score two more goals past Real Madrid's solid defense. Varane was almost as good as Sergio Ramos, and should be one of Mourinho's favorite center backs, ahead of Albiol.

Two minutes after Higuaín's goal, Benzema received a long pass from Özil and put it out of the goalkeeper's reach. Özil looked a little bit better than last month, but he is still leagues away from what we saw from him last season.

Benzema then asked for a substitution due to injury. Apparently, he is feeling better right now (Karanka and Butragueño confirmed this after the game), so he might be ready to play whenever Mourinho needs him.

Kaká, Callejón and Altintop joined the game for Özil, Benzema and Higuaín. Everybody was expecting to see a little bit from Nuri Sahin so the Turkish player could find more rhythm, but Mourinho surprised the Bernabeu by introducing Altintop.

Cristiano found the time to score his first goal of the year after a counter attack developed by Kaká, but it was a very tough game for him.

Sahin's situation is a very strange one. He is healthy enough to play, but he was on the bench. Maybe Mourinho doesn't think he is fit enough yet? The Portuguese coach stated that no player was going to play in every game this month, so if he wants to keep that promise up, Sahin will probably have to fill in Alonso's shoes for a game. The Spanish midfielder doesn't look good at this moment, so it might not be a bad idea to give Sahin some confidence.

Real Madrid's next game will be at la Rosaleda against Málaga next Tuesday.

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