Both sides are starting into this matchup with four changes. Real Madrid are coming off of an extreme high in the Champions League after beating Manchester City 3:0 on Wednesday. If Los Blancos beat Elche tonight they would close the gap to Barcelona, who then would lead by one singular point. Elche in turn are only two points ahead of the relegation zone before kick-off.
The opening stages are very evenly matched with Elche even having 60% of the possession. Carvajal who has started for the first time since February had had to make some big moves in the back to keep Courtois from stepping in.
Dean Hujisen plays a ball over the top to Vini Jr. who can’t make it stick. He hasn’t found the back of the net in his last three appearances. This coupled with all of the medical issues the team has been facing have caused Arbeloa’s tenure to be referred to as inconsistent at best.
Aurelien Tchoumeni is next to try to open the scoring for the Homeside.
Fran Garcia gets pushed into the box by Adria Perdosa, the team and the fans demanding a penalty which is not given by referee Manzano. Madrid have not created any real issues for Elche so far and seem desperate for any chance at a goal.
Two back to back corners for Real, taken by Brahim, lead nowhere for Los Blancos.
Hujisen with a great save for the team after Dani Carvajal can’t keep up with the Elche wingers. neither team has had a shot on goal after 30 minutes of play.
Antonio Rüdiger finally releases Madrid from their own shackles, by hammering the rebound into the net. This was desperately necessary and the fans reward the performance with vigorous chants.
Tchoumeni intercepts the ball perfectly and sprints towards the goal. In a perfect pass sequence with Brahim the ball lands back on his feet right in front of the goal where he is wiped out by Redondo. Manzano (again) decides against a penalty.
Valverde is back in form and continuing his streak of insane strikes. What a finish by the Uruguayan! He guides the ball into the top goal corner from the edge of the box, as he has so often done before.
After 30 minutes of basically nothing the Madridistas got to witness two absolute bangers. The last fifteen minutes (plus an added 6 minutes) of the first half have been highly entertaining to watch, regardless of what side you actually support.
Two minutes back after the halftime and Brahim has a great chance to make it 3:0, however he lobs the ball over the goal, despite no other players being there to intervene.
Both sides make use of their substitutions during a small lull in the match. Real Madrid need to look forward to the mountain to climb in Manchester. With that in mind Arbeloa will be looking to rest key players more than he already has with today’s line-up. Elche have simply run out of energy in the second half after bringing the fight to Madrid in the first 51 minutes.
66′ Huijsen with a header to the back of the net. It’s the Dutchman’ second goal of the season.
Gonzalo with a chance at 4:0. But he stumbles and can’t quite get a good shot going. The ball bounces off of keeper Dituro, who catches the rebound.
Own goal by Manuel Ángel. The Castilla player tries to clear the ball but can only just connect the tip of his boot to the ball, just pushing it into the post and behind the line.
Arda Güler is still full of energy and fires a long shot on goal, just missing it and having the shot go wide. Unlucky for Turkey’s star.
Arda Güler tries his luck after seeing Dituro far outside the box and fires off another extremely long shot. The ball simply soared over his head to find the back of the net, Dituro still trying to grab for it but no chance to stop that goal.
Five minutes have been added.
Elche with a great chance to make it 4:2. Courtois can just scoop the ball out of the air to give Elche a corner.
The score does not reflect the match well, long periods of the game having no action or good gameplay at all. The goals speak for themselves though, with four absolute beauties for Los Blancos. Overall the Homeside can be more than pleased with this result.
