Valencia vs Real Madrid, 2019 La Liga: Player Ratings

Real Madrid fans wanted to see a statement win during the visit to Valencia but all they got was a discouraging 2-1 loss where Los Blancos couldn’t create quality chances all while struggling against Valencia’s counterattacks.

Keylor Navas: 4 - Navas should’ve captured the cross that led to Valencia’s opening goal. Instead, he decided to clear it and sent it right to Guedes’ feet. He made a decent save later but that cross was really an easy one where he should’ve dominated the ball. Considering that he’s trying to earn his spot for next season, he didn’t help his case much.

Odriozola: 7 - Quite possibly Real Madrid’s brightest spot from Wednesday’s game. Odriozola is extremely fast and had a very tough match up against Gonçalo Guedes last night. Guedes scored Valencia’s opening goal but it was off a set piece, so nothing Odriozola could’ve done about it. Other than that, he mostly kept Guedes under control.

Varane: 6 - A solid performance from the French defender, who has become Real Madrid’s most reliable defender after a poor start to the season.

Ramos: 5 - The captain loves competitive games and this wasn’t one given that Madrid had little to play for. His usual intensity wasn’t there for most of the game and turned the ball over a bit too much.

Marcelo: 4 - His offensive performance was decent and tried to create chances when he had the ball. Still, it’s clear that he’s not in good form and defensively he struggled all night long.

Casemiro: 4 - Valencia sit back and just waited for their chance to counterattack and Casemiro could neither help his team when they had the ball nor stop Valencia’s chances effectively. Llorente might have a chance to become a starter for Real Madrid after this poor season from Casemiro.

Modric: 5 - Modric has struggled this season and he just hasn’t been his former self after the World Cup. You can see he’s trying but things aren’t going his way when trying to create chances. He should be Real Madrid’s main play maker and that’s precisely the main area where Real are struggling right now.

Kroos: 4 - Kroos has been a ghost for most of the season and this match was not different. His effort isn’t there defensively and that leaves both Casemiro and Marcelo completely exposed. The German midfielder is one of the world’s best players at his position but Real Madrid need him to play with more intensity and competitive fire.

Lucas Vazquez: 3 - He worked hard as he always does but he turned the ball over time and time again. Real Madrid need a better player than Lucas starting at the right wing, simply put.

Asensio: 4 - One of those invisible performances from Asensio. The attacker has not taken the next step in his game and right now Madrid are better off with Vinicius or a quality signing like Eden Hazard on the left wing. Asensio will have to prove himself if he wants to become a starter.

Benzema: 6 - Benzema took on a role as a pure striker last night and relied on his teammates to create the chances, which they didn't. The French attacker managed to score a late goal.

Bale: 5 - Zidane wanted Bale to change the course of the game. It would've been ideal for him to get more minutes to prove his worth.

Isco: 4 - Mostly invisible during all the minutes he got.

Mariano: - Didn't get enough minutes to make an impact.