Real Madrid will be frustrated after they were held to the 2nd consecutive draw at home, this time by Levante. The Los Blancos could only manage a 1-1 draw against Levante, after Ivi Lopez and Lucas Vazquez appeared on the scoresheet.
Ivi Lopez opened the scoring for Levante after a long throw from Ivan Lopez saw a huge defensive blunder by Real Madrid’s defense, as Ivi Lopez volleyed home past Casilla.
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Real Madrid built pressure, but could not bear fruits until the 36th minute, when Ramos’s header from the corner was saved by Raul Fernandez, but only for Lucas Vazquez to tap it in.
Their 2nd consecutive draw means Zinedine Zidane’s men have already dropped 4 points this season, in just 3 matches. This leaves us with a few talking points:
Real Madrid surely miss Cristiano Ronaldo:
The one man who could have got Zinedine Zidane all three points on both the occasions was surely Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 4-time Ballon d’Or winner was banned for five games after shoving the referee in the Spanish Super Cup’s 1st leg against Barcelona.
And Real Madrid miss him badly. Real have only managed 3 goals in the last 2 games even after their star midfield provided them a lot of opportunities.
With Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale in poor form, a finisher like Cristiano Ronaldo is all that Real Madrid need to finish the chances created by the midfield.
Things look bright at Levante for Juan Muniz:
Juan Muniz in his 2nd season at Levante, and after finishing as the winner of the Segunda Division, he has carried the form of his side into the Primera Division of Spain.
The 48-year-old manager has the highest win percentage of 57.78% at the club.
Levante are yet to lose this season in the first 3 games, and have 5 points after they managed a win in their opening game followed by two consecutive draws.
If things go ahead like this for Muniz, it could be a great season in the top division for Levante.
Real Madrid need a proper back-up striker:
Even though Real Madrid do have Borja Mayoral waiting in the wings, the 21-year-old is yet to prove his mettle at the top stage.
This leaves Zinedine Zidane with only one proper number 9 in Karim Benzema, and on top of that, the Frenchman is probably in the worst form of his life.
Benzema is yet to score in the opening three games of the league for Real Madrid and was point of a lot of criticism after he missed multiple chances in Real Madrid’s 2-2 draw against Valencia.
This makes Real Madrid in desperate need of a proper striker to play ahead or alongside Benzema. However, the 29-year-old could only last 28 minutes on the pitch in this game, after a blow to him forced him off the pitch.
Zinedine Zidane’s rotational policy might need a change:
Zinedine Zidane rested Keylor Navas, Casemiro, Luka Modric and for most parts of the game, Isco, in an important game against Levante.
To an extent, the rests can be justified by the international break that the players had to go through, but the French manager must revisit his policy.
Kiko Casilla, who started for Real in the league after 160 games, was found off the line for a couple of times, and might be a little responsible for the opening goal by Ivi Lopez.
Moreover, the lack of creativity of Luka Modric and Isco in the midfield could not dish up a lot of chances for the forwards.
Gareth Bale needs to regain his form quickly:
The Welshman has been point of whistles by the Real Madrid fans at the Bernabeu for most of this and the last season.
And it is justified, as Bale has not been at his top form and his injury woes have stopped him from being his former self.
Bale missed multiple chances tonight by a very small margin. Those chances that he would have surely scored on another day.
It was an unlucky day for the 28-year-old, who needs to regain his confidence back quickly, if he is to run away from the whistles of the Bernabeu faithful.
