Villarreal hold Madrid as Zidane’s son makes debut
MADRID: Real Madrid’s final Champions League rehearsal was running perfectly on Saturday until Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted and Villarreal scored twice to snatch a 2-2 draw.
Gareth Bale and Ronaldo put Real in cruise control at the Estadio de la Ceramica but the Portugese, along with Luka Modric, was taken off shortly after the hour and Villarreal came surging back.
It was two substitutes that did it, Roger Martinez unleashing a stunning strike into the top corner before Samu Castillejo struck the equaliser five minutes from time.
Castillejo took advantage of some hesitation from Luca Zidane, Zinedine Zidane’s 20-year-old son, who was making his debut for Real in goal.
“I am happy for his debut, it is an important day for him and his coach,” Zidane senior said afterwards. “For his father, we will see what he says at home.”
The draw means any hopes Real had of snatching La Liga’s runner-up spot off city rivals Atletico are ended but their attention will quickly turn to Liverpool and next weekend’s showdown in Kiev. Villarreal jump above Real Betis into fifth.
If Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp had been spying for signs of weakness he would have found few in the opening hour, when Real looked slick, clinical and set for a comfortable victory.
But, defensive frailties were exposed again and perhaps this result underlines that if Ronaldo can be neutralised, this is still a team that is far from unbeatable.
Ronaldo was withdrawn after 61 minutes, the 33-year-old showing no sign of discomfort in what was his first outing since spraining his ankle against Barcelona a fortnight ago.
Bale opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a goal largely of his own making as he fooled Daniele Bonera by running over Modric’s pass, before driving into the bottom corner.
Ronaldo doubled the advantage before half-time, nodding home a nonchalant Marcelo cross from the outside of the Brazilian’s foot as Real strolled into the interval.
But Ronaldo and Modric trundled off and the game turned on a brilliant shot from Martinez, who jinked inside from the left and found the far top corner.
If Luca Zidane could have done little to stop that one, he might have done better with the equaliser as he rushed out to intercept a clipped ball over the top but failed to claim. Castillejo touched it round his flailing opponent and clipped a sharp finish into the empty net.