Player Ratings: Real Madrid Castilla 3-1 Badajoz

Real Madrid Castilla played Badajoz on Sunday morning and comfortably put them away 3-1, thanks to two goals from Sergio Arribas and one from Carlos Dotor. They have now won three (!!!) games in a row, and I know I have jinxed it by mentioning that in this article.

I did enjoy what I saw from pretty much the whole team on Sunday. There were some mediocre performers, but in general, it was a good performance from Castilla, who currently occupy the fourth spot in the table, just above Deportivo, who have a game in hand.

Here are the player ratings:

Mario De Luis - 5.5: I did think Luis made a couple of very good saves in the first half, but it was not enough to get a higher rating. His handling needs a lot of improvement, as he couldn’t keep the ball in his grasp on many occasions, which could’ve led to bigger chances. Also could’ve done better with the penalty. Strong hands are needed.

Vinicius Tobias - 5: It does seem like Castilla lost the game, judging by the first two ratings, but yeah, Tobias didn’t do much offensively. That’s not why his rating has gone down this much, though. The main concern was his defense, because his flank was targeted by Badajoz forwards. He was their primary target, and they created so many chances after going past him in the buildup. So, that’s something that requires improvement.

Carrillo - 4.5: Didn’t play a whole lot, got subbed off at the 34th minute because of an injury. Hope it’s nothing serious. He did help the team in building out from the back, and had a couple of interventions. Can’t really say a whole lot, because there wasn’t a whole lot.

Rafa Marin - 7.5: As always, Rafa Marin had a good game. He was the leader of the backline, and he showed why on multiple occasions. Winning aerial duels, playing cross-field switches, and having multiple defensive interventions that saved Castilla from conceding a second or a third; Marin had a good game.

Marvel - 6.5: Slotted in at left-back for the game against Badajoz, and did well enough defensively. Going forward, he was OK, he made a few overlapping runs that helped Alvaro Martin but I don’t think offense is one of his strong suits, so I had low expectations from the get-go. Good game overall, though, shifted to CB a few times too.

Javier Villar - 6: Villar was decent. He did his stuff defensively, but usually played very safe passes when he did have the ball, he lacked a bit of verticality in his passes, which sometimes led to too many safe passes. But yeah, he did well defensively, he had to stay back many times because Carlos Dotor moved up the pitch quite often.

Carlos Dotor - 8: Easily the second-best player on this Castilla team against Badajoz. Offensively he was great, and, to be honest, at the start I wanted him to track back and help the defense a bit more than he actually did, but well, he had a goal to his name, and was heavily involved in the buildup to the third, so I wouldn’t really say he had a bad game. Dotor is good, very good, and he showcased that on Sunday.

Peter Federico - 6.5: I won’t lie, I expected more from Peter today. I always do, I think he could become a very good player, but he just isn’t consistent enough. Be that as it may, he did have a great assist to his name for the second goal. He tracked back and helped Tobias out sometimes, but that’s pretty much all he did.

Sergio Arribas - 9.5: I think Arribas is just unreal. He’s so good, perhaps too good for this Castilla team, and he keeps putting the team on his back time after time and getting the results. Arribas now has four goals and an assist in four games, not bad. Frankly, he could’ve had more, he had enough chances to score a hat-trick, but that didn’t happen. The goals he did score, though, were beautiful. Especially the first one. That chip was unnecessary. It was unfair.

Alvaro Martin - 7.5: Martin started off as a winger for the second game in a row, and it seems that Raul’s experiment is working. He had a good game, he tracked back on many occasions, and had a few great crosses into the box, one of which led to the first goal. He had great ideas, but sometimes the execution was lacking. I don’t mind that, though. He will improve.

Noel Lopez - 7.5: The new kid’s first competitive start for Castilla, and honestly, although it took him some time to grow into the game, I really thought he was good. He’s not your traditional number nine. Lopez doesn’t mind doing the dirty work that goes under the radar so that his team succeeds as a whole. He dropped back multiple times to support the midfield, and his work rate was very important throughout, especially in the third goal, where he won the ball inside Badajoz’s penalty area, and played the pass to Arribas for his second. Good game from the youngster.