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A magical Champions League night at the Bernabeu on a Valentines. The players really played with all of their heart and reminded everyone that doubted them that “We Are Real Madrid”.
After lagging behind on an Adrien Rabiot goal, Real Madrid fought back with a Ronaldo brace and went all out for the third with an Asensio inspired Marcelo goal.
The team showed that when it comes to the Champions League, Real Madrid is a different beast and you just couldn't count them out and provided us an example of the element they can convene at the colossal of moments when playing on Europe’s grandest stage.
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Player Ratings:
Keylor Navas 8.5,
The keeper again helped the team with some key saves during the match. I never thought he could jumped so high when he punched the ball to clear it, he was like flying for a moment. Could have given him a higher rating if he was just able to save the Rabiot’s goal, in which he fell quickly to the right. Anyhow, another fine performance for the Costa Rican.
Nacho 7,
The reliable defender was positioned as right back this time around and was tasked to faced Neymar at the right side of the field, he was very engage early on but couldn’t catch up on Neymar as the game progress. Still managed to play a good match overall.
Varane 8,
Another solid game for the Frenchman, his height was an advantage for him on a couple of occasions and along side Sergio Ramos they did really well in breaking-off any of PSG’s attack.
Sergio Ramos 8,
Always the leader of the team, showed determination and carried on with his role in providing support for his team after conceding early. Kept Cavani at bay with no impact at all and taper-off any attack the opponents could muster. Had a couple of important blocks inside the penalty area that proved to be decisive.
Marcelo 9,
He was on a swashbuckling form tonight, very fine fine performance on an attacking point, so glad that he was rewarded with a very decisive goal.
Casemiro 7.5,
He wasn’t able to prevent the attacking pace of PSG and was exposed at times. But still with the collective team effort on defense they were able to manage PSG with only one away goal.
Kroos 8,
His run inside the box from a corner resulted in a penalty which Ronaldo explicitly converted. Together with Isco and Modric they controlled the midfield extremely well for most part of the match.
Modric 9,
It was a very exquisite performance for Luka Modric all throughout the match. His change of direction and pace with the ball is something that will just leave you awestruck.
Isco 8.5,
He had a remarkable outing during his time on the pitch, he did disperse the ball really well and was very enthusiastic in pressing and retaining possession. No wonder he was exhausted later on.
Benzema 7,
He did what he got to do —- feeding the ball to ronaldo, opening up spaces, doing dashing forward runs and his ever reliable link-up plays. Only a goal was missing for him.
Cristiano Ronaldo 10,
What more can you say about Cristiano Ronaldo, he has always been there to save Real Madrid. The man of the match made another record by scoring his 100th and 101st goal for Real Madrid, the first ever Real player to reach a century of goals in Europe’s premier club competition. His brace also meant that he is the only player ever to score in the first seven games of the competition, no doubt he is the King of the Champions League.
Substitution:
Gareth Bale 8,
His presence immediately gave Ronaldo spaces to run for goal as he was attracting opposition players and this signaled the start of 2nd half game plan for Real Madrid along with the entrance of Asensio and Vasquez.
Marco Asensio 9,
His entrance proved to be decisive and pave the way for a Real triumph. He was brought on to be the spark and oh boy he did it really well this time!
Lucas Vasquez 7,
His fresh legs off the bench gave the team a lift and exposed the fatiguing opponents during the counter-attacks.
Manager:
Zidane 10,
The Boss had a game plan and it was executed perfectly, included Isco in the starting line-up to control the midfield and bring balance in the game and then switch to the quickfire, past-faced tempo of Bale, Asensio and Vasquez later in the match to destroy PSG.