La Real deployed their entire offensive arsenal against Levante to achieve a well-deserved victory, but that in no way reflected the superiority of Txuri Urdin during the 90 minutes. His lack of efficiency in front of goal could end up costing him dearly because in the final minutes the team of Paco
Lopez, inexplicably alive, had his option to, at least, have added a point that would have caused an earthquake in the San Sebastian team, author of 25 shots on goal that reached him to pierce the goal of Cardenas on a single occasion. As the saying goes, barking dog, little biter. Fortunately one bite was enough.
It barely took Real 28 seconds to generate the first corner kick that caused that at 57 seconds Januzaj, with an Olympic goal attempt, made the first of the 25 shots on goal that the team tried throughout the game. Precisely the Belgian winger was one of the most active players in this facet, adding four shots, the same as David
Silva, one less than Alexander
Isak and two less than Mikel
Merino, the author of the only valid goal – he also scored the disallowed – and the player who most lavished on this facet.
Of these 25 shots, eight were between the three suits, forcing Cardenas to carry out six interventions, one of which had the help of the crossbar to prevent the header from Zubimendi sneak into your goal. The post also allied with Levante on another occasion to spit a placed pitch from Merino with the right that the Levantine goal followed with his eyes.
The curious thing about the game is that despite the absolute dominance of the Real, despite the harassment and demolition of the Valencian goal, the possession of the whole of Imanol Sheriff it was not overwhelmingly superior to that of its rival because while Real had 52.3% of possession, its rival added 47.7%. And it is that the granota team, according to whoscored.com, barely gave 60 fewer touches to the ball (544) than the Guipuzcoans (604), who gave 394 passes for 359 from Levante.
That means that the Real was a direct, vertical team that did not get entangled in possessions, neither too long nor in areas of little danger. Many occasions came in quick transitions after robbery in the opposite field, generated both by errors of the visiting center-backs when getting the ball, and by the good pressure of the realistic team that at times drowned their rival. A choral work that paid off, at least in terms of generation of chances.
However, all this offensive torrent could only translate it into the goal of Mikel
Merino, which left the effectiveness of the Real in a poor 4.8%.
Three shots from the record
These 25 shots on goal were very close to the record for shots in a game this season, starring Atlético de Madrid, also against Levante, in the Metropolitano. Of course, in his case it was worse because despite that statistic, the colchoneros lost 0-2.
As against AZ Alkmaar
28 were also the shots on goal by the Real in another match similar to the one on Sunday. It was against AZ Alkmaar in Anoeta, in the group stage of the Europa League. That day the team of Imanol He also sinned from a lack of effectiveness that was even more alarming because to his 28 shots on goal -9 between the three sticks, 12 away and 7 blocked- it is necessary to add 16 corners, a possession of 66.1%, 766 touches and 566 passes they gave him to achieve the 1-0 victory thanks to both For your.
Despite this lack of effectiveness that Real has shown in some games, the team is still the fourth highest scorer in the championship with 43 goals, one less than Real Madrid and four less than the leader Atlético. Barça, with 57 goals, is the top scorer in the competition.