Real Madrid secured their place in the Champions League preliminary rounds with a 5-1 thrashing of Red Bull Salzburg at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The 15-time winners and defending champions have surprisingly lost three of their opening six matches to sit just a distant eighth in the league stage.
But a lively Real Madrid came out of the changing room to produce an impressive performance, showing all the verve and class you would expect to see from a team containing the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Jody Bellingham and Vinicius Junior.
It was Brazilian Rodrigo who started the party with Real Madrid, as he opened the scoring after 23 minutes with a perfect shot into the far corner. That goal was flat, but what followed from the tricky winger was absolutely stunning. Cutting in from the left, he raced onto the back heel of an unseen Bellingham to deliver a brilliant shot behind the outstretched glove of Janis Blasewich.
Mbappe scored one of the easiest goals he has scored in his career Madrid Shortly after the start of the second half, Blašojic stole the ball before slotting into an empty net, before Vinicius scored the first of his two goals.
Run on Luka Modric's ball behind the full-back Golden BallThe runner-up showed extremely quick feet to open the corner, cutting inside to whip an unstoppable effort into the far corner.
His second goal was the result of a very quick counter-attack that saw makeshift right-back Federico Valverde sneak across the middle of the pitch before putting the ball on a silver platter for the 24-year-old. Vinicius then slid towards goal, easily sliding past Blašojic.
The only sour note for Real Madrid was Thibaut Courtois losing a clean sheet to Mads Bidstrup five minutes from time, but they rose to 16th in the league. UEFA Champions League table and sitting just one point away from the top eight.
|
players |
Ratings |
|---|---|
|
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois |
7.5/10 |
|
lord: Federico Valverde |
8.2/10 |
|
CB: Raul Asensio |
7.3/10 |
|
Capacity building: Antonio Rudiger |
7.8/10 |
|
pound: Ferland Mendy |
7.3/10 |
|
poison: Dani Ceballos |
7.4/10 |
|
poison: Luka Modric |
8.6/10 |
|
RM: Rodrigo |
8.8/10 |
|
I be: Jude Bellingham |
8.7/10 |
|
the mom: Vinicius Junior |
9.0/10 |
|
street: Kylian Mbappe |
7.9/10 |
|
sub: David Alaba (64' for Bellingham) |
6.2/10 |
|
sub: Arda Guler (64' by Ceballos) |
7.0/10 |
|
sub: Endrik (71' for Rodrygo) |
6.3/10 |
|
sub: Ibrahim Diaz (71' for Mbappe) |
6.3/10 |
|
sub: Jacobo Ramon (78' for Rudiger) |
6.3/10 |
Unused submarines: Andriy Lunin (goalkeeper), Fran Gonzalez (goalkeeper), Fran Garcia, Jesus Vallejo, Aurelien Chouamini, Chima Andres,
