Player Ratings: Real Madrid 2-3 Villarreal; 2023 La Liga

Full match player ratings below:

Thibaut Courtois—7: Bombarded with shots in the first half, where Villarreal easily managed to carve open chances. Will be disappointed to have given up three goals, but can take little blame in each of them.

Lucas Vazquez—4: Looks off the pace since his return from injury. Failed to make any impact in the final third and had difficulty with the movement of Yeremy, Baena, and Pedraza.

Toni Rudiger—6: Moved between right and left center back after playing the match with two different center back partners in Alaba and Militao. That pre-determined substitution likely did not help the backline settle in a match where they gave up 17 shots.

David Alaba—6: Only played 45 minutes, but managed 4 clearances during his time on the pitch. Tried a couple over the top passes to Benzema and Vinicius but failed to properly calibrate his long range passing on the night.

Nacho—2: Torrid night against Chukwueze who morphed into prime Arjen Robben on the night. Chukwueze has 7 completed dribbles, 2 goals, and won 10/11 ground duels. Chukwueze’s numbers sum up the difficulty Nacho had trying to contain the Nigerian on what was an inspired performance.

Tchouameni—6: Stretched thin at times with only the Frenchman and Ceballos responsible for defending in the middle of the park. Ancelotti opted to play four offensive players and a double pivot, but Tchouameni and Ceballos were chasing shadows at times. Despite the structural issues, Tchouameni had 2 key passes, 3/3 long balls, 2 completed dribbles, and 7/7 ground duels won.

Dani Ceballos —7: Despite a tough time in a double pivot with little defensive support, Ceballos put in a good shift offensively. Produced 3 key passes, 4/4 completed dribbles, and managed an assist on Vinicius Junior’s goal.

Rodrygo—5: Despite scoring last week, the finishing issues look like they may persist. Generated an xG of 0.63 but failed to take his chances.

Vinicius Junior—9: The best the Brazilian has played against Juan Foyth — scored a beautiful goal, completed 6 dribbles, 2 key passes, and was hacked down no less than 9 times. The surprise came from Javier Alberola Rojas reluctance to give Foyth a yellow card after his persistent fouling of Vinicius.

Marco Asensio—8: Best when he is running at a retreating defense and space to elongate his stride and pick a final pass. Played as a #10 with less defensive responsibilities, giving him the ability to hang high and wait for transition opportunities. Created the first goal with that type of play and was heavily involved in the first half — getting into tackles, making late arriving runs, and getting on the end of chances.

Karim Benzema—4: Flat performance with little involvement — only 11 passes and 20 touches over 60 minutes. Had one shot on target that normally would nestle into the back of the net.

Substitutions:

Eder Militao—5: A half-time substitute for David Alaba. Managed 3 clearances and 2 blocked shots.

Eduardo Camavinga—6: Nearly earned a penalty after a bursting run through the left half space, but VAR overturned.

Fede Valverde—5: Brought lungs and energy to the game, but struggled to get into the final third.

Luka Modric—7: Produced 3 key passes in his short 18 minutes on the pitch.