Real Madrid failed to win for the third consecutive match, settling for a 2–2 draw with Elche in their first match back from the November international break.
Xabi Alonso deployed a head-scratching XI on Sunday evening, benching Vinícius Júnior for Rodrygo and giving the nod to Fran García and Dani Ceballos in the midfield. The gamble did not pay off for the Real Madrid boss, who watched his side put forth an abysmal effort at the Estadio Martínez Valero until he made second-half substitutions.
Still, last-gasp goals from Dean Huijsen and Jude Bellingham were not enough to deny Elche a point. The draw now puts Los Blancos just one point ahead of Barcelona atop the La Liga standings.
Real Madrid Player Ratings vs. Elche (3-4-1-2)
GK: Thibaut Courtois—6.0: Probably should have done better on Elche’s second goal, but was also let down by his defense.
CB: Raúl Asencio—7.1: Continued to fill in admirably amid injury woes until he was completely outclassed by Álvaro Rodríguez on Elche’s second goal of the night.
CB: Dean Huijsen—8.0: Scored Real Madrid’s opener, but has yet to put in a complete defensive display void of any blunders.
CB: Álvaro Carreras—6.1: Nearly gifted Elche a goal in the 18th minute. Carreras looked discombobulated on the left with Fran García playing such an advanced role.
RWB: Trent Alexander-Arnold—7.8: Delivered great service all night long, but will be remembered for losing track of Febas when it mattered most.
CM: Arda Güler—7.0: Struggled in a deeper role. Still, Güler managed to create two massive chances for Real Madrid before he was pulled in the 64th minute.
CM: Dani Ceballos—7.2: Made few mistakes, but had little influence on the game or the midfield. His best performances are behind him.
LWB: Fran García—6.6: Served no purpose. The Spaniard was put in a near-impossible position by his manager and contributed virtually nothing to the attack.
AM: Jude Bellingham—8.8: What started as a quiet night by his standards ended with a goal and an assist that kept Los Blancos from complete embarrassment.
ST: Rodrygo—6.6: Squandered a rare chance to impress. Although he did not misplace a single pass in his 57 minutes on the pitch, Rodrygo could not make the most of his chances in the final third.
ST: Kylian Mbappé—8.7: Will rue the first-half opportunities he failed to put away, but Mbappé made the play of the game to send Los Blancos home with a point.
Subs not used: Andriy Lunin (GK), Sergio Mestre (GK), Ferland Mendy, Endrick, Gonzalo García.
Elche (5-3-2)
Starting XI: Iñaki Peña; Héctor Fort, Álvaro Núñez, David Affengruber, Víctor Chust, Germán Valera; Grady Diangana, Marc Aguado, Aleix Febas; Rafa Mir, André Silva.
Subs used: Adrià Pedrosa, Martim Neto, Álvaro Rodríguez, Léo Pétrot, Federico Redondo.
Player of the Match: Jude Bellingham
Elche 2–2 Real Madrid—How It Unfolded at the Estadio Martínez Valero
Real Madrid kicked off in Elche hoping to emphatically bounce back from their poor performances against Liverpool and Rayo Vallecano ahead of the November international break. Yet they picked up right where they left off, lacking invention on the ball, committing needless mistakes and looking nothing like the team that got off to a near-perfect start this season.
In fact, the best chance of the of the opening 20 minutes at the Estadio Martínez Valero came for the hosts. Álvaro Carreras lost possession inside his own half to Héctor Fort, who found Rafa Mir just a few yards out from goal. The forward, though, saw his effort stopped by a heroic save from Thibaut Courtois.
The moment was not much of a wake-up call for Real Madrid. Alonso’s men were lackadaisical at the back and exhibited little creativity in the final third, not helped by García’s head-scratching nod in the attack.
After a lethargic start, Mbappé had two glorious opportunities to get his side on the scoresheet. The Frenchman was through on goal in the 30th minute after a blistering run down the right flank, but a heavy final touch let him down in the end. Three minutes later, Trent Alexander-Arnold played a sensational ball right onto the foot of his new teammate, who could only manage a weak volley right at Iñaki Peña.
Real Madrid headed down the tunnel without a goal in the last 233 minutes. Things went from bad to worse in the second half when Elche found the first breakthrough of the game. Germán Valera picked out Aleix Febas with a wonderful backheel pass that the midfielder poked home in the 53rd minute.
Alonso immediately sprung into action, bringing Vinícius Júnior, Federico Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga on the pitch. Yet it was an unlikely goalscorer that eventually got Los Blancos on the scoresheet. Jude Bellingham flicked on Alexander-Arnold’s ball from the corner flag to Dean Huijsen, who bagged his first goal in a white shirt.
Elche reclaimed the lead in the 84th minute through former Real Madrid man Álvaro Rodríguez. The striker got the better of Raúl Asencio and sent a left-footed strike past Courtois and into the back of the net.
Then it was Bellingham’s turn to answer just three minutes later. A wild sequence that started with an Alexander-Arnold free kick ended with the England international slotting home an equalizer for his side, all thanks to a brilliant play by Mbappé to keep the ball in play.
Elche went down to 10 men in stoppage time, but there was not enough time on the clock for Real Madrid to find a winner.
Elche vs. Real Madrid Halftime Stats
Elche vs. Real Madrid Full Time Statistics
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Real Madrid Player Ratings vs. Elche: Shock Lineup From Alonso Produces Shock Result.
