Olympique Lyon versus Real Madrid – UEFA Champions League: Player Ratings (Part 4)
In the third part of this series, player ratings for Real Madrid’s goalkeeper Iker Casillas and their four man defensive line consisting of Sergio Ramos, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe and Alvaro Arbeloa were discussed. This time around attention is paid to Real
Madrid’s offensive stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil.
Sami Khedira
The German defensive midfielder was quiet throughout the night but he fulfilled his responsibilities to the fullest alongside Xabi Alonso. As the game progressed, Khedira grew in stature as he man-marked Yoann Gourcuff throughout the game. The French playmaker
didn’t have any time or space on the ball throughout the 90 minutes as Khedira was in his face as soon as he received the ball. The FIFA 2010 World Cup semi-finalist hardly contributed to Real’s build up play, a department in which he can massively improve
when both Lyon and Madrid lock horns once again in the middle of March at Santiago Bernabéu.
Rating: 7/10
Xabi Alonso
Clueless in the first half and then impervious in the second half, Xabi Alonso was a changed player in the second half when Benzema was introduced into the game. The Spanish midfielder found Cristiano Ronaldo time and again down the left side of Real Madrid’s
attack. Not only that, Alonso did superbly well to track back on various occasions throughout the encounter as well. It was his defensive awareness which kept the score line at 0-0 for the first 45 minutes. One can expect him to be an automatic starter at
Bernabéu on 16th of March. Rating: 7.5/10
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo found it hard to get going in the first half of the match against Olympique Lyon but in the second half, the Portuguese winger did remarkably well to hit the post with a narrow angled free kick. He was also involved in the buildup play to Real Madrid’s
only goal of the match. In fact it was his finely weighted pass that found its way to Benzema before the Frenchman slotted the ball away in between Hugo Lloris’s legs. Towards the end of the first half, Ronaldo looked considerably tired and as a result the
ex-Manchester United starlet had little effect on the match in the final 20 minutes or so.
Rating: 7/10
Mesut Ozil
After failing to make an impact in the first half of the match, many experts suggested at the half time that Ozil should be substituted but in the second half, Mesut responded in fine fashion to his critics by playing an important role in Real Madrid’s opening
goal at Stade de Gerland. The German attacking midfielder played a glorious one-two with Ronaldo before the Portuguese winger played in Benzema for Real’s only goal of the night. In a match that was more of a scrap rather than a fine exhibition of football,
Ozil found it hard to keep with the stamina levels and the physicality of the game.
Rating: 6.5/10
Angel Di Maria
Poor decision making on the ball was the only flaw in Di Maria’s performance in the first leg of Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League Round-of-16 match against Lyon. The Argentinean winger was sprightly throughout the encounter as he went past Aly Cissokho
on the far side a couple of times. After discovering that Lyon’s right back was too much of a physical specimen in competition, Di Maria played intelligently and started drifting inwards to link up with the likes of Ozil and Alonso. The ex-Benfica man was
subdued in the second half probably due to his defensive responsibilities which required him to track Michel Bastos’s offensive runs.
Rating: 8/10
In the last part of this featured edition, player ratings for Real Madrid’s substitutes and Emmanuel Adebayor will be discussed so that one can ascertain what went wrong for the Los Blancos at Stade de Gerland in the final few minutes of the match.
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