A pair of late, late goals saw Real Madrid avoid disaster in Germany tonight, with Casemiro the hero for Zinedine Zidane’s men.
Real fight back
Los Blancos got their European campaign back underway a short time ago.
The Spanish champions made the trip to Borussia-Park, for a Champions League group stage meeting with Borussia Monchengladbach.
Real no doubt headed into proceedings desperate for all 3 points, having fallen to a shock 3-2 defeat at home to Shakhtar Donetsk last week.
Tonight’s hosts, on the other hand, impressed in their own tournament opener, only denied what would have come as a huge victory at Serie A giants Inter Milan by a late Romelu Lukaku equaliser.
And, when all was said and done in Germany on Tuesday, Marco Rose’s surprise package were once again denied at the death.
Gladbach took the lead in the clash, courtesy of the explosive Marcus Thuram:
Pléa ➡️ Thuram
Two of Gladbach’s attacking stars link up to put Real Madrid behind in Germany.
Beautiful pass, emphatic finish 💥 pic.twitter.com/p5yQmYNEkA
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 27, 2020
And the Frenchman, son of former Juventus and Barcelona standout Lilian, was back at it again 15 minutes into the 2nd-half, doubling the home side’s advantage from close range.
Gladbach, in truth, should have gone on to kill the game off from here. Alassane Plea was guilty of fluffing one of a number of chances for the home side over the course of the final half-hour.
And, as so often proves the case, when you fail to take your chances against Europe’s elite, you get punished.
As the clash ticked towards full-time, and with the Germans seemingly in full control of proceedings, a dinked ball to the back post saw Casemiro do brilliantly to nod back across goal, allowing Karim Benzema to lash home in clinical fashion.
Then, deep into injury-time, provider Casemiro turned goalscorer, as Sergio Ramos’ header back across the face was slotted into the roof of the net by the arriving Brazilian.
In the end, Real failed to come up with an all-important winner, but, in keeping the club’s Champions League hopes very much alive with a hard-fought point, did manage to avoid an altogether unwanted club record:
Real Madrid were one minute away from losing their opening two games of a European campaign for the first time in their history.
Then Casemiro stepped up ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/8zuNMFYbyS
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 27, 2020
Unsung hero
On the back of his side’s comeback this evening, Zinedine Zidane should be sure to thank one man in particular – Casemiro.
So often overlooked when it comes to Los Blancos’ key performers, the midfielder has, for some time, proven absolutely instrumental to Real’s successes.
His unrelenting will to drag the Spanish champions back into proceedings proved the catalyst this evening, with the 28-year-old’s assist, at one point, having appeared a lost cause.
Casemiro, though, not only reached the ball, but managed to pick out Benzema in the Gladbach box.
This rare combination of drive and ability is what makes the South American such a special player, with his name, despite Real’s failure to completely turn things around, rightly taking centre stage in the media on Tuesday night.
Casemiro’s game by numbers against Gladbach:
96 touches
14 total duels
6 recoveries
5 total aerial duels
4 interceptions
4 shots
3 fouls won
1 tackle
1 chance created
1 assist
1 goalInstrumental in the comeback. pic.twitter.com/T04C1OsCUG
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 27, 2020
