Barcelona’s win over Atlético Madrid meant they lost the La Liga title, but Real Madrid still put together a very impressive second-half performance against Espanyol. Los Mernegues sleepwalked through the opening hour, but sprang to life once the hosts scored and blasted their way to a 4-1 win.
3 things we learned from Real Madrid’s 4-1 win over Espanyol
His team didn’t win the title, but Cristiano Ronaldo is still intent on finishing the season in style.
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Madrid let Espanyol have a surprising amount of the ball in the opening period and didn’t to much to stop them from walking the ball right up to their penalty area. The first half finished 0-0, and deservedly so.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal in the 59th minute in typical fashion, running onto a through ball by Karim Benzema into the left channel, then placing a shot past Francisco Casilla at the far post from 10 yards.
Business picked up once Espanyol brought on Christian Stuani as a substitute, and he finished off a gorgeous move in the 73rd minute to surprisingly put his team ahead. Sergio Garcia set it up, playing a perfect square ball across the box for Stuani to tap in.
But Madrid dominated from there, scoring three goals in fairly quick succession. They were back in front in the 79th minute thanks to Marcelo, who placed a gorgeous shot into the top corner from the edge of the box, from a layoff by Ronaldo.
Ronaldo scored twice more to complete a hat trick, cleaning up a ball Javier Hernandez scrapped for in the 83rd minute, then heading in a ball by James Rodriguez in stoppage time.
Espanyol: Casilla, Moreno, Colotto (Montañés 84'), Alvaro, Alvarez, Lopez, Gonzalez (Mattioni 84'), Sanchez, Arbilla, Garcia, Caicedo (Stuani 64')
Goals: Stuani (73’)
Real Madrid: Navas, Marcelo, Varane, Pepe, Carvajal (Nacho 81'), Kroos, James, Isco (Illaramendi 73'), Ronaldo, Benzema (Hernandez 63'),
Goals: Ronaldo (59’, 83’, 90’), Marcelo (79’)
3 things
1. Ronaldo might post his best ever individual season - With his hat trick in this game, Ronaldo is up to 58 goals this season. That's two short of his his best-ever tally, and in two fewer games. With Los Merengues playing at home against Getafe next week, in front of what's likely to be a fantastic crowd for Iker Casillas' sendoff, Ronaldo might score a second hat trick and finish off the most impressive individual campaign of his career -- even if his team wins no trophies.
2. Marcelo is Madrid’s second-best player - For years, the knock on Marcelo was that, as excellent as he was going forward, he was poor enough defensively that he actively hurt Madrid on that end of the pitch. Not only is he a well above-average defensive fullback now, but he’s the most dynamic attacking fullback in the world. No one’s better at picking the right times to play crosses, throughballs, simply keep possession or run at the opposing defense. And on this day, he ran the show like a deep-lying playmaker from the left back position. He’s done it over and over all year.
3. Espanyol are impressive given their budget - They fell apart late, but Espanyol put together a fantastic effort in this game and their goal was wonderful. Unfortunately, it only served to wake a sleeping demon. But Espanyol are still top half despite this loss, they’ve proven they can play with the big boys, and they’ve done extremely well to put together a solid season despite financial troubles.
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