Los Blancos continued their Champions League title defence strongly as they recorded a comfortable 3-1 win over Napoli at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night.
Poor positioning from Keylor Navas had allowed Insigne to put the Serie A visitors in front less than 10 minutes into the game, but Real Madrid didn’t take long to bounce back, with Benzema, who should have opened the scoring in the opening seconds of the game grabbing an early equalizer.
Carvajal played in one of the finest crosses ever into Napoli’s box, and the French forward outjumped everyone, including Ronaldo to head beyond Reina’s outstretched arms.
Both teams couldn’t grab a lead in the 1st half despite coming close, but the hosts got the job done when play restarted. Despite blasting an effort wide earlier on, Ronaldo proved he also can create goals as he located Kroos from the edge of the box having made light of Koulibaly’s marking, and the German placed a low drive effort into the bottom-most left of Napoli’s goal.
The visitors seldom broke away on counters, but they couldn’t make much of it against a resolute Madrid defence, and the hosts soon snatched an all-important 3rd goal, with Casemiro’s outside-the-box screamer sailing well beyond Reina’s reach.
Ronaldo came close to adding a 4th but his Champions League goal drought continued as he blasted an effort wide yet again, while Napoli had a goal rightly ruled out for offside after Callejon failed to beat the trap.
The result puts Real Madrid comfortably in front ahead of March 7 return leg in Italy as they seek to book a place in the last eight.
Here is how Zidane’s charges fared:
Navas
Insigne capitalized on him leaving his box to send a long-range effort into the net but was on hand to gather few saves afterwards.
Rating : 6/10
Carvajal
His assist as Madrid got an equalizer was class and he was also solid rock at the back.
Rating : 8/10
Varane
The glue that held it all together for the hosts at the back, and he demonstrated his quality to hold off Mertens who appeared set to go one-on-one at a moment.
Rating : 8/10
Ramos
Walked on a defensive tight rope after an early booking and had to be withdrawn in the game’s closing stages, but was still able to keep it tight at the back.
Rating : 7/10
Marcelo
Gave the attack a lot of support with Ronaldo and Benzema failing to convert the chances he created. Stood well with Callejon at the back all game, fouling his former teammate when necessary.
Rating : 7/10
Modric
Ran the show from midfield as he gave a good account of his defensive abilities with some tracking back while also attempting to split open a solid Napoli defence.
Rating : 7/10
Casemiro
Bagged a well-struck volley that helped put the game to bed, capping off a solid performance in his defensive midfield role.
Rating : 8/10
Kroos
Calmly finished a Cr7 cross and was all over the midfield all-game.
Rating : 8/10
James
Got a surprise start on the right of the attack and justified the selection with some neat crosses while also coming close to scoring himself.
Rating : 7/10
Benzema
Bagged his 51st Champions League goal but could have easily got a brace or hat-trick if not for Reina’s brilliance.
Rating : 8/10
Ronaldo
Assisted his 5th goal of the season – his most of any campaign, but should have gotten on the score sheet himself.
Rating : 7/10
SUBSTITUTES
Pepe
Replaced Ramos with some 20 minutes to go and didn’t have any issues helping to keep the visitors at bay.
Rating : 6/10
Vazquez
Tasted few minutes of action after replacing James and he had some moments of brilliant flashes.
Rating : 6/10
Morata
Came on at a time Madrid were willing to do more defending in order to protect their 2-goal advantage.
Rating : Unavailable