Player Ratings: Real Madrid 2-0 Valencia; 2023 La Liga

Real Madrid and Valencia came together for another match-up less than 3 weeks from their previous duel in the Spanish Super Cup.

Full match player ratings below:

Thibaut Courtois—7: The Belgian’s post match comments sum up his night nicely: “I had a good time watching the match”. Was quick with his ball distribution.

Nacho—7: Played at right back to start the match, but moved into his more customary center back role after Militao’s injury. Alert to any and all danger, quick to sweep out any counter-attack.

Eder Militao—7: Injured early on, but was playing well before carted away. Hit two of his long distance diagonal long balls to Vinicius with perfection.

Toni Rudiger—7: Another solid performance from Rudiger. Scored a goal from a corner kick which was ruled out by VAR, claiming a foul from Benzema.

Eduardo Camavinga—8.5: The more he plays at left back, the more appealing it becomes. He underlaps and pops up in central channels with the comfort of a midfielder, but has the engine and technique to get up and down the left flank beating players off the dribble. He opens the game up for Vinicius and has become the missing partner for the Brazilian.

Dani Ceballos—9: Partidazo. The Santiago Bernabeu chanted “Ceballos Quedate” (Ceballos, Stay) to end the game. His stats once again do the talking: 103 passes completed (95% passing accuracy), 11/12 long balls, 4/6 dribbles completed, 10 duels won, 3 fouls drawn, 2 interceptions, and 2 completed tackles.

Photo by Diego Souto/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Toni Kroos—7: Played the perfect though ball to Vinicius Junior early in the second half which nearly resulted in a goal. Dropped deep to dictate play and help Madrid build-out from the back.

Luka Modric—7: Nearly nabbed an assist just 3 minutes into the match with a defense-splitting pass to Asensio in the box. Played 66 minutes and occupied a more advanced #8 role with Ceballos and Kroos deeper in build-up.

Marco Asensio—8: Missed three big chances in the firs half, accumulating an xG of .80, but managed to score an absolute golazo to break the dead-lock from a long distance missle outside the corner of the 18-yard box.

Vinicius Junior—8.5: As is so often the case, was the most fouled player (5) and was assaulted by Paulista in the second half with an awful tackle that saw the Valencia center back earn a red card. The 22-year-old managed to score on his 200th appearance for the club.

Karim Benzema—7: Left the match in the 60th minute with an injury, but managed 2 assists in this match and 5 key passes.

Substitutions:

Dani Carvajal—6: A good run-out with his first performance after a 3-week injury lay-off.

Tchouameni—6: Missed a chance to score from inside the box, but otherwise did well and kept the ball moving with quick one or two touch combinations in midfield.

Valverde—6: Replaced Luka Modric and managed the last 24 minutes of the game. Had 18 touches, 14 passes (100% PA), and little else to note.

Rodrygo—6: Played as a CF in place of Benzema. Completed 3 dribbles within 30 minutes and managed 1 shot on target.