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Real Madrid opened its preseason stage in the United States against the LA Galaxy with a 1-5 win. Only two potential starters scored (Higuaín, Di María), so Callejón, Morata and Jesé had an opportunity to get some more minutes in the upcoming season.
The Portuguese coach decided to play the match with two different teams. He started the game with Casillas, Nacho, Varane, Albiol, Coentrao, Alonso, Lass, Callejón, Di María, Kaka' and Higuaín. This team was very effective, but the Galaxy also took control of the ball. Higuaín and Di María showed that they can work well on the pitch, El Fideo delivered a great assist and also scored one of his trademark goals from the right wing, while Higuaín allowed Callejón to score with a nice pass and even scored a goal himself in the second minute of the match.
Kaka looked terrible once again. Özil played much better than the Brazilian player, and one can only wonder whether he is not performing at his best because he wants to be elsewhere. On the other hand, David Beckham did play well in the first half, and passed the ball well to his teammates.
In the second half, Mourinho swtiched out his 11 players, giving Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe, Ramos, Özil, Khedira, among others, the chance to kickoff their preseason. Nuri Sahin played in the leftback.At the press conference, Mournho had this to say about Sahin.
Real Madrid is not an easy club. It's complicated. If he stays, perfect. We got Xabi, Lass, Granero, Khedira, Özil...If he stays, very well, I'll cheer him to play, but if he decides to leave, I'll be happy as well.
The Turkish player is not having fun in this situation. Everyone thought he could turn things around with a full preseason, but his future seems to be bleaker than ever.
Morata, Özil, Benzema and Cristiano combined really well and Real Madrid enjoyed its best minutes of the game with that offensive lineup. Pepe looked really good every time the LA Galaxy tried to get close to Madrid's goal. Even Granero showed his strengths with a great assist to Morata.
Cristiano and Benzema came close to scoring, but Galaxy's goalie was very good down the road. Only Jesé Rodríguez was able to score, when he touched the ball after replacing Morata.
The team's next game is against the Mexican team Santos Laguna this upcoming Sunday.
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