2 key passes, 1 assist: 29-year-old Real Madrid defender continues with his improved form against Atletico Madrid | OneFootball

After beating Manchester City in the playoff round to advance to the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid faced another stern test as they hosted Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu for the first leg of the Round of 16 tie on Tuesday.

The Merengues were able to get a one-goal advantage from this game and will be hoping to make this advantage count in the upcoming second leg next week.

All three goals in this 2-1 win for Los Blancos were spectacular. Rodrygo Goes once again showed his incredible skill to provide his team with an ideal start to this game, as he scored in the 4th minute.

However, Atletico pushed back after going down early and were able to get back on level terms in the first-half as Julian Alvarez also scored a stunning goal.

In the second half, it was Brahim Diaz who took on the mantle, as he beat several Colchonero defenders to score another amazing goal, one of the best in the Moroccan international’s career.

While Brahim himself did most of the work for this goal, Ferland Mendy was able to get the assist, as it was after getting a pass from the Frenchman that the former Manchester City forward had weaved magic with his feet and sent the ball into the back of Oblak’s net.

Thus, the French defender was able to get assists in quick succession, after having broken a 867-day long assist drought in the last game against Real Betis. He had not provided a single assist in the last season, despite being a key part of the team that won a La Liga and UCL double.

Furthermore, it was only this assist that made him stand out in this game, as his overall performance was also quite good, and in accordance with the recent improvements he has shown after a very poor first half of the season.

Against Atletico Madrid, Sofascore statistics show that the Real Madrid left-back got on the ball 80 times and was impressive with his passing as he registered a 95% success rate, completing 59 of his 62 attempted passes.

He also provided 2 key passes and attempted 2 long balls, only 1 of which was accurate. Mendy also had a good chance to get on the scoresheet himself, but Oblak saved his shot.

Defensively, he did not have much to do and made 1 interception and blocked 1 shot. On the other end of the pitch, he could be seen combining with the likes of Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe frequently and helped in the build-up of attack from his side of the pitch.

Hopefully, he will be able to build up on this performance and help his side in the upcoming two difficult matches, against Rayo Vallecano and Atletico Madrid, as well.