La Liga 2016-17: Las Palmas 2-2 Real Madrid: 5 Talking Points
Real Madrid did little to shore up their advantage at the top of the table, drawing against UD Las Palmas at the Estadio de Gran Canaria, on Saturday night. After an unconvincing display leading to a drawn midweek game against Villarreal, the Los Blancos put up another below-par performance against the yellows and dropped two crucial points.
Earlier in the day, Barcelona stepped up the gas, sans Messi, to rout 10-men Sporting Gijon 5-0 to go top of the table. With a game in hand, the initiative was Real’s to seize but they failed to turn up.
Also read: Sporting Gijon 0-5 Barcelona: Five Talking Points
We take a look at the five key talking points from the game:
#1. Real Madrid’s attack lacked cohesion in all aspects
Zidane made four changes to the side that dropped points against Villarreal on Wednesday. Karim Benzema was on the bench as Alvaro Morata started alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal and Nacho replaced James Rodriguez, Danilo and the injured Marcelo.
From the first whistle, one thing was amply clear – there was no ‘Real’ spark in the attack. With hardly any link-up play in the first half, Morata was caught upfront in attack minus adequate support from either flank.
Similarly, Ronaldo was operating in an almost isolated way while Bale barely made his presence felt in and around the box. Despite this, Real had some decent chances and capitalized on some sloppy passing by Palmas to take the lead through Marco Asensio.
However, there were telling reminders of the listlessness of the Madrid attack throughout the game - the sheer number of missed opportunities, wayward shots, Kroos’ solo take from outside the box when his teammates were in space being some of the standouts.
Come the final whistle, the score-line did not adequately reflect the Los Blancos frontline’s lack of cohesion as the yellows had problems of their own in defence and midfield and therefore couldn’t make the most of it.
Real Madrid failing to grab the game by the scruff of its neck each time they took a lead allowed Palmas a way back and they gleefully accepted. Someone as astute and intelligent as Zidane will surely not have missed this.