Real Madrid vs. Levante: Winners and Losers from La Liga
Real Madrid strolled to a straightforward 3-0 win over Levante as La Liga got back up and running after the international break.
Marcelo scored the opener and Cristiano Ronaldo became Real Madrid's all-time highest scorer soon after to double the lead with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area. Levante threatened only sporadically and Jese wrapped up the win late on.
Here are all our winners and losers from the game at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Winner: Marcelo
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The left-back was captain for the day in the absence of Sergio Ramos and put in a good performance all round, defending strongly against the counter-attacks of Levante and also being decisive with his movements forward.
Whether overlapping or driving inside, he was a great outlet at pace and created plenty of danger for Real by making up an extra body in the final third.
His goal was a product of determination as much as quality, and it came at a time when Real were struggling to break down the packed defence—a big performer for them throughout, all told.
Dermot Corrigan noted on Twitter that Marcelo had more touches of the ball than any other Real player.
Winner: Jese
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Jese didn't even get on the pitch until late but made his mark with a well-taken goal and a lively 20 minutes. With no James Rodriguez, Luka Modric or Karim Benzema available to Rafael Benitez, it was thought Jese might have even started the game, but Ronaldo played in attack instead.
Things looked even worse at half-time as Gareth Bale was substituted...but Lucas Vazquez got the nod to come on ahead of Jese. Only in the last 20 minutes did No. 20 manage to get involved.
He soon made an impact though with a well-taken goal, while he also created several chances for Ronaldo and Vazquez. This response from Jese was the best possible way to remind Benitez of his talents.
Loser: Ruben and His Defence
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Levante goalkeeper Ruben will be disappointed in his afternoon's work; Real dominated a lot of the match but didn't create huge numbers of clear shooting chances—but he was still beaten three times.
A long-range effort from Ronaldo was fiercely hit, but the 'keeper reacted slowly to it, while the other two goals both beat him at the near post.
Despite a five-man defence for Levante all game long, they didn't pressure the Real attack enough to stop shots from range and certainly didn't pass the ball well out of defence to launch enough decisive counters.
Winner: Keylor Navas
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Keylor Navas was just as decisive as the scorers at the other end of the pitch.
At 0-0 he made a couple of good saves, but his finest moment came in between Real's quickfire first and second strikes—a terrific reaction save down to his left to save a header from Deyverson.
Had Levante quickly equalised, the game could have taken a different path; instead Navas wrapped up another clean sheet and his interventions were vital to the end result. Opta tweeted that Navas' five saves were a season high for the stopper.
Winner: Rafa Benitez
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Rafa Benitez tweaked his lineup and kept a largely 4-3-3 shape, letting his attackers run free by putting the extra security of Casemiro at the heart of the midfield for Real Madrid.
It worked as Casemiro swept up plenty of counter attacks, while the front three did create plenty of constant turnovers of possession and showed good movement between them at time. The boss also got to rest a few stars; Gareth Bale went off at half-time and Mateo Kovacic was rested late on too after both were busy over the international break.
Three goals, three points, another clean sheet and a routine win for Benitez to be happy with.
