Real Madrid 6-0 Levante: Player ratings as dominant champions run riot
By Tom Gott
Real Madrid condemned Levante to relegation on Thursday with a 6-0 victory over La Liga's bottom side.
In the most top-vs-bottom affair imaginable, Real were four goals ahead at the break thanks to strikes from Ferland Mendy, Karim Benzema, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior.
Levante stopper Dani Cardenas was alert to deny Benzema from range inside a few minutes, but he could do nothing ten minutes later as Mendy got himself through on goal and fired into the bottom corner, giving Real a well-deserved lead 13 minutes in.
Federico Valverde struck the post just moments later, shortly after Thibaut Courtois was called upon to save a one-on-one which was eventually rendered pointless by a late offside flag.
The second came through Benzema, whose header from close range saw him tie Raul for second on the club's all-time top scoring charts.
After a handful of chances for Real, Rodrygo had the ball in the back of the net half an hour in, but his strike was rightly ruled out for offside. However, there was no denying the Brazilian shortly after as he tapped in from close range from a low Luka Modric cross.
Ruthless Real nearly had a fourth through Valverde's half-volley from range, only for Cardenas to pull out an excellent save to push the ball on to the bar. The Uruguayan again struck the woodwork for the third time in the first half, before Vinicius finished off a one-two to put Real 4-0 up at the interval.
Levante did try to get forward after the break but the gulf in quality between the two sides was immense and the home side never felt threatened. They could have had a fifth through Rodrygo, who couldn't get his lob on target when up against Cardenas. Immediately after, Vinicius put his own lob in the back of the net, but the offside flag spoiled the fun again.
Vinicius would have to wait ten minutes longer for his next goal. Benzema went one-on-one with Cardenas and eventually made it round him, and instead of shooting from a narrow angle, he pulled the ball back to his partner-in-crime, who tapped home from five yards.
There was still time for a sixth goal, Vinicius completing his hat-trick as he drove through the heart of Levante's defence before firing into the bottom corner.
Levante put up a fight but were simply no match for Real, who settled for six goals but could have easily had double that number.
Real Madrid player ratings vs Levante (4-3-3)
GK: Thibaut Courtois - 6/10 - Called into action once or twice but largely a spectator.
RB: Lucas Vazquez - 7/10 - Profited from not having to do any actual defending and could live out his memories of his former life as a winger.
CB: Jesus Vallejo - 7/10 - Looked fairly comfortable on what was a simple evening. Made a crunching tackle early on.
CB: Nacho Fernandez - 7/10 - Didn't have too much work to do but everything he did was solid.
LB: Ferland Mendy - 8/10 - Actually attacked with purpose for a change. Took his goal well and got involved in a few more good moments.
DM: Eduardo Camavinga - 9/10 - Barely needed to do any defending and clearly loved all the attacking freedom that came with his side's dominance.
CM: Luka Modric - 10/10 - Just the three assists for Modric in the first half. Ran the show from start to finish.
CM: Federico Valverde - 9/10 - Unreal energy and would have had a 10 if he could have avoided hitting the woodwork over and over and over again. The only thing that was lacking from his game.
RW: Rodrygo - 9/10 - Far too good for the Levante defence. Unfortunate not to end this game with two or three goals.
ST: Karim Benzema - 9/10 - Ruthless in front of goal and selfless to set up his team-mates. Another all-round performance.
LW: Vinicius Junior - 10/10 - All over Levante. Drifted all around the pitch in search of the ball and was never afraid to run at defenders. Got three goals but could have had five or six, easily.
SUB: Mariano (62' for Rodrygo) - 5/10 - Did he even touch the ball?
SUB: Luka Jovic (74' for Benzema) - 5/10 - Ditto.
SUB: Toni Kroos (74' for Valverde) - 6/10 - Took the captain's armband after coming on and saw out the win with composure.
SUB: Peter Gonzalez (74' for Modric) - 6/10 - A few nice moments on the ball but lacked end product.
SUB: Mario Gila (82' for Nacho) - N/A