Three stats from Real Madrid 1-0 Getafe

Real Madrid secured a 1-0 win over Getafe as Carlo Ancelotti made eight changes to his line-up after facing Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday and ahead of the second leg on Wednesday. Only Thibaut Courtois, Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde maintained their places, with the goalkeeper the only one to last the full 90 minutes.

The winning strike came from Marco Asensio, though not until 70 minutes, as he curled in an effort from distance after cutting in from the right flank in his trademark style. It was the only goal of the game with Getafe unable to test Courtois and Real Madrid’s forwards letting their chances slip.

These three stats help to highlight the key moments and players of the game.

12: Goals for Marco Asensio, a career-best in a single season

Few performances can define Marco Asensio more than this one, where he scored from distance while cutting in from the right, before missing a golden chance from short range moments later. In this game without Vinícius Júnior, Karim Benzema or Rodrygo Goes in the line-up, he was the team’s most potent attacking option and looked to be quite the threat throughout.

Testament to that was his goal, which makes this season his joint most prolific campaign in a Real Madrid shirt, equalling his tally from last season in 250 fewer minutes. He is now level with Rodrygo Goes and Fede Valverde on 12 goals in all competitions, though he has more in LaLiga than either, behind only Vinícius and Benzema, who are on 20 and 22 respectively.

It also took his tally of goal involvements to 20 for the first time in a season in his career, surpassing his record of 19 while on loan at Espanyol in 2015/16. That campaign was very different, with 15 assists and four goals, whereas this year he’s registered 12 goals and eight assists. Eight assists is also his best in a Real Madrid shirt, and his highest since that season with the Pericos.

14/17: Duels won by Aurelién Tchouaméni

It would be fair to say that Aurelién Tchouaméni has fallen from favour in the 2023 calendar year, but statistically, he produced his strongest performance since September when he was settling in quickly to life in Madrid, producing a rounded performance which was a good case for him to be in contention for the Champions League.

Playing in the pivot role on his own with Dani Ceballos and Eduardo Camavinga next to him in the first half, and Toni Kroos replacing Camavinga in that role for the second, he looked dominant. He adapted well to the changes, linking up well with all three players who worked alongside him.

He registered more successful duels than any other player with 14 out of 17, including winning possession with two sliding tackles and recovering possession an impressive seven times throughout the 90 minutes. He was the lynchpin of the Real Madrid midfield and looked assured every time that Getafe tried to attack through the middle of the field, even if that was a relatively rare occurrence.

On the ball, his pass accuracy was higher than any other player at 96% with 92 of 96 passes completed. Of those, he engaged in 42 passing connections with Éder Militão and Nacho Fernández as the two central defenders, helping to distribute and funnel the ball out from the back line to the final third. He progressed the ball effectively, completing both of his attempted dribbles too, more than any other player.

Photo by Alberto Gardin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

61: Minutes for Eden Hazard, the most in any LaLiga game since January 2022

Among the changes made in this mix-up from Ancelotti was to give a first start to Eden Hazard since September of last year. Although he only played 61 minutes before being replaced by Vinícius Júnior, that gave him his longest single stint in a Real Madrid shirt against top flight opposition since a game against Elche in January 2022. Since then, he had only played longer against Cacereño in the Copa del Rey (67 minutes).

It was a distinctly unremarkable performance from Hazard yet again. His 29 touches was nine fewer than the next lowest number for any starting player for Real Madrid, with that being Ferland Mendy who was taken off at half-time.

He did register 95% passing accuracy, from a relatively low number of 19 total passes, but only one of those was into the final third. The other positive was that he was the most fouled player in the match, preferring to take the easy route of being fouled and going down when Getafe came in hard, rather than trying to beat his man.

There were few signs of life in this performance to suggest that Hazard has a future at Real Madrid ahead of him. With his Chelsea days long gone, he didn’t even attempt a single dribble in this match.