Espanyol vs. Real Madrid: Live Player Ratings for Los Blancos

La Liga, Estadi Cornella-El Prat

Sunday, January 12, 2014 

ESPANYOL 0-1 REAL MADRID

Goals: Pepe (55')

Real Madrid moved within three points of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga after a hard-fought win over Espanyol on Sunday.

Central defender Pepe grabbed the only goal of the game shortly after half-time, on a night where Real's array of attacking talents—and Cristiano Ronaldo in particular—failed to impress.

Here's some immediate half-time and full-time ratings and analysis for Real's first XI.

Player	HT Rating	FT Rating
Diego Lopez	6	6
Marcelo	6	6
Pepe	6	7
Sergio Ramos	6	7
Dani Carvajal	7	6
Xabi Alonso	6	6
Luka Modric	7	8
Gareth Bale	6	6
Cristiano Ronaldo	6	6
Angel Di Maria	6	6
Karim Benzema	6	6

First half comments

Diego Lopez: A virtual spectator, with Espanyol's rare chances invariably going wide

Marcelo: Failed to find his mark with a number of good crossing opportunities.

Pepe: Escaped punishment for a poor challenge on Cordoba—who caused him a few other problems—early on.

Sergio Ramos: Reasonably assured after overcoming a slightly uncertain start.

Dani Carvajal: Caused problems down Espanyol's left with his purposeful running.

Luka Modric: Perhaps Real's best player in the first half, using the ball well and constantly changing the angle of Real's attacks.

Xabi Alonso: His passing was off initially, but settled into a rhythm after the first 20 minutes.

Gareth Bale: A relatively quiet first half performance from the Welshman.

Angel Di Maria: Similar to Bale, Di Maria also squandered some decent crossing chances.

Cristiano Ronaldo: Forced a couple of good saves from Casilla, but they were all saves most goalkeepers would expect to save.

Karim Benzema: Headed one glorious opening narrowly wide, and couldn't get on the end of a couple of decent crosses into classic attacking areas.

David Ramos/Getty Images

Second half comments

Diego Lopez: Same as the first half, with no real saves of note required.

Marcelo: Continued to be wasteful with some of his crossing, and was less impactful than in the opening 45.

Pepe: Grabbed the winner with a powerful header, but was not quite so assured on the defensive end.

Sergio Ramos: Was given a tough game by the enthusiastic Cordoba, but dealt well for the most part with the powerful Colombian.

Dani Carvajal: Won the free-kick that ultimately resulted in the winner, but otherwise his profligate crossing was a key area of waste for Real.

Luka Modric: Cemented a man-of-the-match display with the game's assist to go with a variety of passing. However, some of his tackling was still a bit clumsy, and he was perhaps fortunate not to be sent off for a second yellow card.

Xabi Alonso: Overshadowed for the most part by Modric, but made a fine late header to prevent Espanyol grabbing a last-gasp equaliser.

Gareth Bale: An early withdrawal for Jese underlined an underwhelming overall display.

Angel Di Maria: Was perhaps fortunate to avoid Bale's fate, but contributed less as the match went on.

Cristiano Ronaldo: Not the Ballon d'Or winner-elect's best night, as Casilla got the better of him with a number of saves.

Karim Benzema: Another to be denied more than once by Casilla, Benzema at least threatened often with his movement.