La Liga, Real Madrid outclass Valencia 2-0: Records broken
Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos powered Real Madrid to a 2-0 victory against Valencia at home on Sunday. As a result, Real has moved into second place in La Liga, having leapfrogged Barcelona, who hammered Alaves 5-1 on Saturday. Real are now five points behind top-ranked Atletico Madrid on number two. Here are the records broken in the match.
How did the match pan out?
Real Madrid drew first blood as captain Benzema put them ahead in the 12th minute. Mid-fielder Kroos doubled their advantage just before half time, with Real gaining the wood. Ferland Mendy nearly made it 3-0 just after the hour mark, but the goal was ruled out for offside following a VAR review. Valencia were unable to stage a comeback, handing Real a comfortable victory.
Benzema's incredible run against Valencia
According to Opta, striker Benzema has scored at least one goal in each of his last five games against Valencia in La Liga (six goals in total). This is his best run scoring against this opponent in the competition.
Real played without seven key players
Interestingly, Real were without seven key players, including Sergio Ramos and Eden Hazard, due to fitness issues. Midway through the first half, they also lost Dani Carvajal to yet another injury on his return to action, taking the total number of injured defenders in their squad to five. Meanwhile, Valencia were also without coach Javi Gracia on the sidelines due to a touchline ban.
We're worried about the injuries: Kroos
After the win, Kroos highlighted the injury woes of Real Madrid. "Every game we play we always try to win that's all we can do, it's what everyone else is doing so we have to try and do it too," he said. "We're worried about the injuries as we're missing some very important players but there's not much we can do about it."
