Valencia draw at Real Madrid

Real Madrid 2-2 Valencia

La Liga—Sunday, August 27, 2017

Score:                     Valencia 2–2 Real Madrid

Half-time:               Valencia 1—1 Real

Goals:                     Real—Asensio 10, 83, Valencia Soler 18, Kondogbia 77.

Possession:            Real 66%, Valencia 34%

Shots at/on Goal:  Real 22/6, Valencia 7/3

Sound bite:            Benzema’s misses drop Real to fifth place on the La Liga table.

Turning Point:       Karim Benzema goal scoring misses: 21, 36, 43, 45, 53, 87.

Formations:           Real—4-3-3, Valencia—4-4-2

Rosters:  Real Madrid: Navas, Carvajal, Casemiro, Nacho, Marcelo; Modric, Kroos (Mayoral 84), Isco (Kovacic 45); Bale (Lucas Vazquez 74), Benzema Asensio. Subs not used: Casilla, Hernandez, Llorente, and Ceballos Fernandez. Booked: Carvajal, Casemiro, Nacho. Valencia—Murara Neto, Montoya (Vidal Miralles 75), Nunes Vezo, Murillo, Latore Grueso (Gil de Pareja 83); Soler, Parejo, Kondogbia, Gaya; Zaza, Rodrigo (Mina Lorenzo 88). Subs not used: Domenech, Maksimovic, Medran, Jimenez. Booked: Montoya, Soler, Parejo, Zaza, Rodrigo.

FP La Liga ranking:   Real—10, Valencia—6

Form:                     Real—W, Valencia—W

Head-to-head:       Real Madrid—19W-7L-9D (in LL since 2008)

FP CRI: Garcia—3, Zidane—3. Garcia got it right, Zidane blew it.

 Venue:                   Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain

Attendance:           61,739

Capacity:                81,044

Weather:                21C/70F/dry and comfortable

Pitch:                     Smooth and well kept

Referee Team: Referee— Fernandez Borbalan, assistant referees Raul Cabanero and Jose Manuel Matias Caballero, and Rafael Sanchez Lopez, fourth official.

Fouls Committed: Real   19—24  Valencia

Fouls Called:         Real   12—12  Valencia

Yellow Cards:       Real     3—5    Valencia

Red Cards:            Real    0—0    Valencia

FP-HRI/Match:     3/3

Game Summary:

Zidane had to play Casemiro as a central defender as Ramos, Varane and Vallejo were unavailable and Ronaldo was still serving his red-card-push suspension. Bale was still unfit, Benzema was still embarrassing, and a rejuvenated and focused Valencia smelled blood and went for the kill, getting a point, and almost three, at the Bernabeu.