Real Madrid vs. Levante: Score and Reaction from 2015 La Liga Match
Real Madrid beat Levante 3-0 to return to the La Liga summit at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
Marcelo opened the scoring for the hosts, and Cristiano Ronaldo overcame Raul as Madrid's all-time top goalscorer in the same week the legendary striker announced his retirement. Substitute Jese added a third late on.
The match was far less one-sided than the scoreline suggests, though, as Levante created plenty of chances, and had they showed more composure in the final third, the match could easily have been a draw.
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Los Blancos were without plenty of key players, including Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos.
Starting with five at the back, the visitors ensured the match started quietly, as they frustrated the hosts.
Ronaldo had a penalty appeal dismissed after 16 minutes, the forward going down after feeling Simao's hand on his back, but a spot-kick would have been harsh on the Levante man.
Real began to find their feet as Marcelo caused all manner of problems down the left, first testing goalkeeper Ruben with a dangerous cross, before forcing Juanfran to concede a corner.
Fittingly, the Brazilian soon broke the deadlock from a lovely move, as he won the ball in midfield, drove into the box, played a clever one-two with Ronaldo and finished with aplomb.
The visitors almost replied immediately through the impressive Deyverson, whose close-range header forced an excellent save from Keylor Navas.
Los Blancos quickly silenced hopes of a comeback, though, as they doubled their tally just two minutes after taking the lead, with Ronaldo firing into the bottom corner from outside the area after picking the ball up from Toni Kroos.
Squawka Football noted yet another milestone goal for the superstar, while football journalist Rik Sharma took a nostalgic view of the strike:
The 30-year-old should have added a third shortly after but could only hit his effort wide, and Levante caused more problems as Roger danced through three defenders and tested Navas.
Les Granotes continued to push forward after the break, and Real needed a fine last-ditch tackle from Casemiro to deny Deyverson a golden opportunity to score one-on-one with the Real 'keeper.
The Brazilian impressed with his urgency and again almost scored, only to see his effort deflected wide by Marcelo, but Los Blancos countered with pace, and Kroos curled a shot straight into Ruben's arms.
The hosts killed off the game with eight minutes of normal time remaining through Jese, who collected a pass from Lucas Vazquez and applied a lovely finish past Ruben.
Football journalist Dermot Corrigan was particularly impressed:
The goal finally killed off Levante's spirit, and the hosts were able to breathe easily for the first time as they saw out the remainder without incident.
Real can ill afford to allow Paris Saint-Germain to have so many chances when they meet on Wednesday, though if Ramos or Modric return, they should look more solid.
Levante will be encouraged by their performance if not the scoreline. If they can show more incisive finishing, they could climb their way out of the relegation zone when they host Real Sociedad in their next outing.
Post-Match Reaction
Madrid boss Rafael Benitez praised Ronaldo for leading the line in Benzema's absence. Per the Mirror's Ed Malyon, he said:
"I thought that Cristiano today has taken on the responsibility well. With so many players missing he had to drive the team on for us, and he did that."
He also confirmed Gareth Bale's half-time substitution was to rest the Welshman, adding "After 2-0 with the tough week that he has had, he was tired and we needed more speed."
