Another battered Real Madrid has booked an important victory in LaLiga on Wednesday. Zinedine Zidane’s team triumphed 0-3 in and against Cádiz, which had recorded a 0-1 victory over the reigning national champion in October last year. Zidane could again call on Raphaël Varane and Nacho Fernández, but also missed Toni Kroos, Luka Modric (injuries) and Federico Valverde (corona virus). With the victory, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid are in the lead in LaLiga with 77 points shared, although Diego Simeone’s team will still play at home against low flyer Huesca on Thursday.
Real Madrid, with base debutant Antonio Blanco in midfield, got off to a difficult start in southern Spain. Zidane’s team struggled to create danger, while Cádiz regularly reached Thibaut Courtois’ goal area. Especially former Merengue Álvaro Negredo gave the Real Madrid defense a lot of work. After less than half an hour of play, the game was unbalanced. Antonio Mateu Lahoz saw no penalty in a duel between Isaac Carcelén and Vinicius Junior in the penalty area, but after interference from the VAR and viewing the images, the referee still pointed to the spot. Karim Benzema and goalkeeper Jeremías Ledesma opted for the same angle, but the Frenchman nevertheless hit the goal: 0-1. Benzema has never missed a penalty in LaLiga: eleven-meter kicks, eleven goals.
Suddenly things are going fast in Cádiz ?? Benzema is again the end station of a Real attack: 3-0?#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #CadizRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/PU9OVtWLzt
– Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) April 21, 2021
The penalty for Real Madrid was almost a rarity anyway: no fewer than 25 match days in a row, since October 24, 2020, the Spanish top club did not receive a single penalty in LaLiga. That was the longest running series of the Royal in competition since 1974. In the remainder of the first half, Real Madrid got the best out of themselves. A few minutes after the opening goal, Benzema gave an excellent cross to the far post, where the detached Álvaro Odriozola headed the ball behind Ledesma: 0-2. Casemiro had, after another pass from Benzema, the 0-3 on his shoe, but the Brazilian failed.
Benzema still put Real Madrid’s third goal on the scoreboard before half-time: the preparatory work was by Casemiro, after which the Frenchman placed his head against the ball. In the second half, Real Madrid mainly leaned on the generous standings. Cádiz, which appeared with no less than four new faces after the break, was unable to get back into the game anyway. Except for a header from Anthony Lozano, who headed just wide, it was a fairly quiet second half for Courtois. Real Madrid got no further than failed attempts by Rodrygo and Mariano Diaz. The latter missed a dot of an opportunity, but he was eventually offside.
| No. | Team | M. | W. | G. | V. | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 32 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 32 | 70 |
| 2 | Atlético Madrid | 31 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 37 | 70 |
| 3 | Seville | 32 | 21 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 67 |
| 4 | Barcelona | 30 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 43 | 65 |
| 5 | Real Betis | 32 | 14 | 7 | 11 | -3 | 49 |
| 6 | Villarreal | 32 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 13 | 49 |
| 7 | Real Sociedad | 31 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 47 |
| 8 | Osasuna | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | -7 | 40 |
| 9 | Granada | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | -14 | 39 |
| 10 | Athletic Club | 31 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 38 |
| 11 | Celta de Vigo | 31 | 9 | 11 | 11 | -7 | 38 |
| 12 | Levante | 32 | 9 | 11 | 12 | -7 | 38 |
| 13 | Cadiz | 32 | 9 | 9 | 14 | -21 | 36 |
| 14 | Valencia | 32 | 8 | 11 | 13 | -7 | 35 |
| 15 | Getafe | 31 | 7 | 10 | 14 | -12 | 31 |
| 16 | Alavés | 32 | 7 | 9 | 16 | -21 | 30 |
| 17 | Real Valladolid | 31 | 5 | 13 | 13 | -14 | 28 |
| 18 | Huesca | 31 | 5 | 12 | 14 | -15 | 27 |
| 19 | Elche | 32 | 5 | 12 | 15 | -21 | 27 |
| 20 | Eibar | 31 | 4 | 11 | 16 | -19 | 23 |