Leganés – Real Madrid (0-3): match notes!

Real Madrid easily beat CD Leganés 3-0 thanks to goals from Mbappé (43rd), Valverde (66th) and Bellingham (85th).

Thibaut Courtois (6/10) : the Real Madrid goalkeeper had a quiet encounter, apart from a small scare at the start of the second half, entirely his fault.

Federico Valverde (8/10) : the new captain of Real Madrid dazzled fans and observers in his new position. You wouldn’t think you’re seeing a makeshift right-back when you look at his defensive and offensive performance. Ball vacuum cleaner, passing clinic and indirect free kick scorer, Valverde did everything from his position further back than usual.

Raul Asencio (7/10) : after his excellent cameo against Osasuna, Asencio did it again with a performance full of maturity and confidence. Enough to arrive with your head held high at Anfield even if the task promises to be arduous.

Antonio Rüdiger (7/10) : quiet and solid performance for the boss of this defense.

Fran Garcia (7/10) : it’s refreshing to see him tumbling down the left wing in this kind of match. Everything has not been perfect and the understanding with Mbappé needs to be perfected but Fran is on the right track if he continues this kind of performance.

Edward Camavinga (6/10) : a little in the shadow of Ceballos, Camavinga was good but without bringing anything extra to this meeting.

Dani Ceballos (7/10) : 8 duels won out of 10 and only 6 balls lost out of 100 touchdowns, with 95% successful passes. This is exactly what we expect from Ceballos in this role of metronome to dictate the restart and sometimes even the tempo. The only downside to his match was that he sometimes attracted the ball a little too much compared to his friend the double pivot Camavinga.

Jude Bellingham (8/10) : English masterclass. Used to perfection by Ancelotti, he took advantage of his freedom to influence the game in every way possible. Monstrous in duels, precise with the pass and excellent in positioning, his whole range was put in the spotlight in Butarque, with a goal at the end of the match to remind us of the magnificent fox of the surfaces that he was last year .

Arda Guler (8/10) : the Turkish virtuoso showed his talent on the right wing by thanking Carlo Ancelotti in the most beautiful way for his trust. Between swaying dribbles and creating chances, he was in all the right moves in the first half while knowing how to complement the two stars of the attack. Man of the match.

Kylian Mbappé (7/10) : full of good intentions and with spaces on the left, the Frenchman showed an encouraging face in pressing as well. He is rewarded with an offering from Vinicius Jr. to open the scoring and finally finds himself back in the scorers’ table.

Vinicius Jr. (7/10) : at the forefront for most of the match, the Brazilian was less of a protagonist than usual but made himself available and willing to press. He is the one who recovers then offers the goal to Mbappé on an error from Alti.

Carlo Ancelotti (7/10) : the Italian technician tried and succeeded in his tactical approach for this meeting. On a tightrope with the many absentees, the choices to trust Asencio in defense, Valverde on the right, Arda Güler in attack and Mbappé on the left wing all paid off and allowed Real Madrid to deliver a great performance in Butarque. The only downside is once again late changes as Anfield approaches quickly.

Brahim Diaz (entered in the 75th minute in place of Güler): Not rated.

Luka Modric (entered in the 83rd minute in place of Mbappé) : Not rated.

Endrick (entered in the 87th minute instead of Bellingham) : Not rated.