In a match where, on current form at least, Real Madrid arrived as the underdogs;’Los Blancos’ shot out of the traps with a point to prove against high flying Valladolid.
The aim of the match was evident: wipe clear the memory of last week’s ‘El Clasico’ humiliation, and register a much needed league win.
In contrast, Valladolid entered this contest on the back of a strong start to the domestic campaign; unbeaten in six matches, four of which were convincing victories, sitting pretty in sixth place in the table.
The match started in rapid fashion. Madrid immediately assumed control, pushing most of their play out to the left hand side with Asensio, and the youngster Reguilón making runs on the outside of him.
On his 100th La Liga appearance, the more senior of the two young stars, Asensio, took it upon himself to take hold of the game, creating numerous dangerous openings for the likes of Bale and Benzema to run onto in the middle of the box.
In fact, it was the combination of Asensio and Benzema that made the first real opening of the match within the first 3 minutes of the whistle.
The Spaniard set Benzema free down the left channel, but the Frenchman was unlucky to drag his shot wide of the far post. The pair would combine again two minutes later, this time Benzema drew a smart save out of Masip in the Valladolid goal by virtue of a headed effort.
Valladolid would soon respond with a chance of their own; a wide free kick would cause chaos in the heart of the Madrid defence, until captain Sergio Ramos stepped up to hoist the ball clear of danger.
November 3, 2018
The pattern of the game would continue in the same vein as the opening 15 minutes for the remainder of the first period.
Madrid controlled the Lion's share of posession; Modric and Kroos had particular joy finding the young fullbacks Odriozola and Reguilón with incisive through balls into either channel.
Meanwhile the youngsters produced a countless number of quality crosses into the box for the likes of Benzema and Bale to run onto. And so they did.
Once again, it was futile to keep count of the amount of times that either Benzema or Bale got onto the end of a cross, no matter wherabouts they were due to land in the box. The pair had Valladolid stopper Masip well worked by the arrival of the interval.
In contrast, Valladolid saw little of the possession, which can be seen as no surprise given the excellent central midfield pairing of Kroos and Modric in their opponent's starting XI.
However by no means did this signify that the visitors were under pressure for the entirety of the first 45 minutes. In fact, the pattern of play somewhat suited Valladolid, who simply awaited their chances to nick in and counter the Madrid offensive.
Visitors Valladolid had three clear cut chances themselves in the first period.
First a counter attack led to Antoñito finding himself one on one with Madrid keeper Courtois, but he was unlucky to see his lofted effort land on the roof of the net.
Then, soon after, Antoñito was at it again. This time the forward fired a long range shot towards the Madrid net, but Courtois was more than able to save the speculative effort.
With the interval looming, the game became stretched, both sides keen to convert their alternating advantage into a concrete lead over the other.
Madrid's chance came first; a break down the left hand side saw Bale leap high into the air to try to reach a rasping Reguilon cross, but the ball span just wide of the target.
And then Valladolid struck back with a header of their own. The slight Unal slipped between Madrid's centre backs to reach a looping cross, but he could only flick his header wide at the back post.
The scores would stay in deadlock through to the interval.
November 3, 2018
The second half of this encounter panned out in contrasting style to the first.
Perhaps because they had managed to contain the hosts well in the first period, Valladolid came out of the traps after the interval. Where they had been hesitant in the first half, Valladolid took the match to Madrid, putting them under a small period of pressure.
However it was to be Madrid that would have the first clear opportunity of the second half; the combination of Benzema and Reguilon proving as effective as in the first period, but once more the finish was lacking.
After a brief scare, Madrid settled back into their passing rhythm, Modric and Kroos finding more and more passes into the channels behind the increasingly weary Valladolid defence.
'Los Blancos' pumped cross after cross into the visitors' penalty area, but for both the lax finishing and the excellent performance of the Valladolid rearguard, they could not seem to make their dominance count.
Valladolid remained dangerous on the counter. The mischievous Toni Villa practically created his own show reel of chances in this game; the pick of the bunch being a 30 yard drive that cracked off the cross bar with just over 15 minutes of the match remaining.
Interim coach Santi Solari made his three substitutions in quick succession with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Vinicius, Vazquez and Isco entered the fray to good effect, of which the young Brazilian Vinicius could be seen as the most influential, perhaps not on the match itself but more importantly the scoreline.
Into the final ten minutes and still nothing to separate the sides, until a moment of madness in the Valladolid defence.
Vinicius collected the ball on the left hand side of the box, drifted inside, jinked around two players and fired a shot towards goal. Unfortunately for Valladolid, the ball somehow found its way into the top corner of Masip's net, by way of a freak deflection.
In no uncertain terms could Vinicius be credited with the goal itself, because if it hadn't been for the deflection, the ball would most likely have struck the far corner flag. Nevertheless, it ended up in the back of the net, and Madrid finally had their goal.
The final five minutes were frantic. Valladolid were forced to advance higher up the field by way of clawing back a result from the fixture, and this only gave Madrid more space to exploit going the other way.
It was just before the 90 minute mark that Madrid would be able to seal a hard fought win.
Frenchman Karim Benzema assumed control of the ball 30 yards from goal and proceeded to embark on a mazey run through the entire Valladolid side. Benzema did well to break into the penalty area before he could evade the defenders no longer.
Yet in a more positive turn of events, the Frenchman managed to trick centre half Calero into making a rash challenge, Benzema fell to the floor, and the hosts had a penalty.
Captain Sergio Ramos commanded the spot kick, no one daring to take the ball off him. He was the calmest man in the Santiago Bernabéu.
Ramos took a slow run up, waiting for the keeper to go down, before chipping his penalty into the back of the net.
Madrid had their cushion and had the points.
Overall, the result is a slightly harsh reflection on Valladolid, who did not deserve a 2 goal defeat, however, it also does not reflect just how good Madrid performed in the offensive areas of the pitch.
Valladolid were valiant and brave in their approach; many sides who invite pressure from Madrid leave the Bernabeu with a drubbing, but the northwest side were well drilled, and unfortunate not to take a result from the match.
Similarly, Madrid were equally as brilliant, albeit in an offensive rather than defensive sense, and for the neutral, the sides played out an entertaining match.
In contrast to previous weeks, Madrid had more than their share of luck, in particular with the deflected opener. And so perhaps this points to a changing of the wind in the Spanish capital; their luck, their fortunes, their season may just be ready to turn for the better upon this good result.