The first test of the Benitez era with a rival yielded the first hints of what his project will be: the main one is that Bale will have the baton of the team in the attack. The coach has been practicing with the Welshman as a playmaker since the team landed in Melbourne to start the tour (the Madrid 11 informed the club in the summer through his agent that he wanted to play there) and against Roma he gave him total freedom of movement.

During the 55 minutes he had, Bale received the ball in the middle of the field, dropped to the right wing on several occasions taking advantage of Odegaard being there, and sought the goal eagerly as soon as Jese left a gap in the lead. In fact, he was the player from both teams who shot the most times (three) and even tried a bicycle kick.

An increase in responsibility given to Bale that contrasted with the loss of influence of Cristiano, very limited on the left wing. The Portuguese, substituted at halftime (played 10' less than Bale), didn't even shoot once. Visibly unhappy, he had a bad day and lost three balls due to poor control on goal occasions.

Change. The Portuguese felt confined and could only "liberate" himself for five minutes, from the 20th to the 25th, in which Jese changed his position and could play as a striker before returning to the position set by Benitez. Cristiano couldn't hide his frustration and was seen reproaching Bale for not passing him the ball in the 26th minute when he was heading towards the goal and the British player preferred to take the shot. The next game will be on the next Friday, the 24th, against City and Benitez's challenge will be to harmonize the new role he has given Bale without taking away protagonism from Cristiano...

The key points of the game

Mistakes on set pieces. Madrid changes coach but still suffers immensely on strategic plays. In the first corner (3') of the match, De Rossi already headed alone to the crossbar...

More compact when defending. Benitez has worked on the pressure in Australia. When the team lost the ball, it transformed into a 4-4-2 with Jese and Bale pressing the opponent's exit.

With fast wingers. In the second half, he tried with two fast wingers, Cheryshev on the left and Lucas Vazquez on the right. The coach wants to exploit this resource.

Odegaard's inexperience. The Norwegian played on the right wing and didn't offer depth. Bale was the one who penetrated through his area. He only provided two crosses from his weaker foot without finding a finisher. He looked inexperienced.

Kroos and Modric, separated. Benitez has not yet tested the presumable starting midfield duo. He gave the first half to Modric, who gave way to Kroos at halftime.

Illarramendi, lost. He played alongside Modric and again was overwhelmed. He committed three fouls (the most) and almost gave away a penalty to Gervinho. Keylor prevented an own goal.