After three straight draws, the last one which was a draw against Athletic Bilbao that left them two points behind leaders Barcelona in their final game of the year 2019, Real Madrid desperately needed to start 2020 with a win and topple Barcelona who would be playing later today.
Zidane made few changes to his preferred line up with Thubait Courtois standing in between the sticks, Raphael Varane and Eder Militao partnering each other in central defense, Dani Carvajal at right back and Ferland Mendy replaced the injured Marcelo at left back.
The midfield witnessed the trio that rocked Europe for three straight years in Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric while the attack saw Isco and Gareth Bale both flank Karim Benzema.
It was 4-3-3 on paper but 4-4-2 on the pitch, with Isco playing as a middle man between the attack and the midfield.
The first half left so many questions concerning the Real Madrid team as Getafe pressed well and created the better chances and unfortunate to be losing at half time with Courtois producing world class saves to thwart three of their good chances. A quality set piece play from Toni Kroos witnessed Raphael Varane pressure Soria into scoring an own goal to give Real Madrid a half time lead.
Not long into the second half, another Toni Kroos inch-perfect cross was met with a Varane header to send Real Madrid two goals up. Los Blancos created the better opportunities in the second half and with the changes Zidane made, they were able to see out the match without conceiving a goal as Luka Modric scored an injury time goal to make it three for the whites. What a great way to start the 2020 season.
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