A comeback win away against a tough opponent should be enough to satisfy even the most demanding supporter or board member connected with Real Madrid.
On the face of it, 3-1 against Leganes to lift Los Blancos into third in the table is a more than acceptable result. Until you scratch the surface.
Leganes took the lead on five minutes with Real’s defence comically all at sea again. Barely a match day goes by without last season’s champions conceding, and that in itself is the most damning indictment of what Zinedine Zidane hasn’t got right this season.
It’s true that they’d turned it around before the half hour, but it would take until the last knockings of the game before Sergio Ramos scored a penalty to finally make the game safe.
Nabil El Zhar was a constant thorn in the visitors’ side and Nordin Amrabat’s introduction on 72 also had an effect on how Real approached the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo was given a short holiday and Zidane’s XI was rotated as expected with focus firmly on the return against Paris Saint-Germain. But there was still more than enough talent in the side to put their near neighbours away before injury time.
A team that have the third worst goalscoring record in La Liga were still in the game right up until the moment when Ramos’ spot-kick hit the back of the net.
Now back into third, Real are on the coat-tails of neighbours Atleti, and the carrot for Zidane will be to overhaul the Rojiblancos. For them to be able to do so, however, each and every player need to up their game.
In June last year they were lauded as the best team in the world, but for large parts of 2017/18 Real Madrid been wholly unconvincing - as they were against Leganes.
Next up are Alaves who, with respect, could be regarded as another league ‘minnow.’ The difference between the Basques and Leganes is that they are in their best form of the season under Abelardo Fernandez.
Recent wins over Sevilla, Villarreal and Valencia, as well as the narrowest of defeats against Barcelona, hints at the quality that they will bring to the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
In Munir El Haddadi, they’ve one of the form strikers in the division, and given Real’s home record, it’ll be no surprise to see him on the scoresheet again.
PSG will be resting easy just now. About time Real had them quaking in their boots.
