Brest 0-3 Real Madrid: Match review | OneFootball

Real Madrid end the UEFA Champions League group stage with an encouraging victory over Brest in Guingamp.

Aurelien Tchouaméni started as a centre back, along with Luka Modric getting a place in midfield alongside Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham.

On a smoky night in Northwestern France, it was Brest who had the first shot on target after Pereira Lage struck a free kick well enough to force Thibaut Courtois to make a save.

It was a relatively slow start for the Los Blancos who started to pick up pace after the 20th minute. It began with Rodrygo’s header being pushed out for a corner in the 26th minute.

The Brazilian was responsible for putting Real Madrid ahead after he went on a well timed solo run, with Luka Modric recording the assist.

Even though Brest trailed at half time, they had the same xG as Madrid (0.43). Moreover, the French side had 9 attempts at goal as compared to 5 by the Merengues.

But Carlo Ancelotti’s side needed to have just 1 out of those 5 attempts on target to take the lead.

Just 2 minutes into the second half, Modric laid a through ball to Kylian Mbappe but the striker struck straight at the goalkeeper.

Brest’ dangerman Ludovic Ajorque thought he had equalised for the home side after his shot ricocheted off the post and into the goal. But the strike was found to be marginally offside.

At this point, Jude Bellingham was having a brilliant outing and it was his brilliance which led to the second goal.

The Englishman received the ball in his half, made a run and found Brahim Díaz with the Moroccan finding Vazquez after a good overlapping run.

The Spaniard then cut one back to Jude, who put the ball into the back of the net and doubled Real’s lead.

Thibaut Courtois was at his best after quite some time in the UCL. Brest were not giving up and the Belgian was forced to make an almost impossible save to prevent the French side into smelling some sort of chance to salvage a result from this match.

Luka Modric was at his best on the night, getting one assist and substituted to a standing ovation from the Brest home crowd.

Just a few minutes later, Mbappe’s shot was saved by Marco Bizot but on the rebound, it was Rodrygo who scored the third.

The 26-year old World Cup winner was rather unlucky as he had 2/4 shots on target and missed 4 big chances.

Despite a victory, the Vikings were unable to secure a top 8 spot with the other results not going their way. As a result, Los Blancos finished 11th in the table.

Real Madrid will now lock horns against Manchester City in the play offs to be held in February.

Rodrygo made it clear that the side’s focus is on the playoffs now despite not achieving their goal of ending up in the top 8.

On the other hand, Carlo Ancelotti bluntly let everyone know that he did not like this new format as it consists of too many games.

The Italians statement is debatable since players will have to play playoffs and have a match every 3 days. Meanwhile, teams who qualified for the round of 16 will have to wait until March.

Nevertheless, it is what it is, and now Los Blancos will have to take the long route in order to lift the title for the 16th time. The players seem in form and hungry. Expect a fierce battle again to lift the prestigious trophy.