Real Madrid vs. Atalanta player ratings: Benzema, Modric, shine as Atalanta defense can’t keep up

Real Madrid cruised into the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday by knocking out Atalanta with a 3-1 win in the second leg  (4-1 on aggregate), capitalizing on all of their mistakes to become the first Spanish team in the last eight. A first-half goal from Karim Benzema, and a second-half penalty kick from Sergio Ramos were more than enough to see Los Blancos through. 

But how did all of the players perform? Here are our ratings for the match:

Real Madrid

Thibaut Courtois

A spectator for much of the match. He never really was tested for the first hour aside from an early chance. Had to step up a bit in the second half and was beautifully beaten by a free kick from Luis Muriel.

Rating: 6

Ferland Mendy

A bit reckless in defense in the first half. Should have had an assist in the second half to Vinicius Junior. Got forward well, looking stronger there than when defending.

Rating: 6

Sergio Ramos

A calming presence at the back that knew where to be at all times. Took his penalty kick brilliantly and was strong in the air. 

Rating: 7.5

Raphael Varane

Confident and elegant on the ball for much of the game, but at times when possession went back to Atalanta, he was out of position. Effective enough.

Rating: 6.5

Nacho

Really tackled well, won the majority of his duels and kept his shape. Never really took unnecessary risks. Solid as can be.  

Rating: 6

Federico Valverde

Did a little bit of everything, as usual. Got vertical and horizontal well with swift touches to get the ball into space. Didn’t blow anybody away, but he didn’t have to.

Rating: 6

Luka Modric

Unselfish in feeding Benzema for a simple finish in the first half, and he gets credit for reading the goalkeeper’s pass to get that gift of a goal going. Was also surprisingly strong defensively.

Rating: 8

Toni Kroos

Positioned himself well defensively, his passing was nearly perfect, and he really did well to get into space to receive the ball. Not flashy.

Rating: 6

Vinicius Jr.

Had some decent moments down the left, including an incredible run in the second half where he should have scored, blowing a chance from close after some magical footwork. Did win a penalty though.

Rating: 6.5

Lucas Vazquez

Showed some flair on the right that kept Atalanta on their heels, but he was never a consistent factor. His passing was also way off. 

Rating: 5

Karim Benzema

Took his best chance with pure class to set the tone 34 minutes in and maybe should have had another. Came up big by being in the right spot so often. Hit the post in second half.

Rating: 8

Eder Militao

Came on for Ramos to boost the defense and see out the result, doing just that.

Rating: 6

Marco Asensio

Came off the bench and put the game away late with a fine finish in the box. An impact sub.

Rating: 7

Zinedine Zidane

Fortunate to have Benzema and Ramos healthy, but he deserves credit for putting Modric where Casemiro usually plays. Valverde or Kroos seemed like more likely options, but Modric did it well and was superb. Still feel unlikely to contend for the title, but this gets them in the conversation for now.  Also impressive to not concede one to Atalanta until the very end.

Rating: 8

Atalanta

Marco Sportiello

A rare Italian in Atalanta’s ranks, he made a glaring error to gift Real their first goal and although he tried to atone with a save to deny Benzema in the second half, the damage had already been done.

Rating: 4

Rafael Toloi

Not the best night for the Brazil-born skipper as he fouled Vinicius for the penalty via VAR, was booked and then was swiftly substituted.

Rating: 4

Cristian Romero

On loan from Juventus, the Argentine had a solid enough outing and cannot be held accountable for Sportiello and Toloi’s mistakes.

Rating: 6

Berat Djimsiti

Like Romero, he doesn’t deserve much of the blame for the poor defensive efforts of his teammates and he ended the night in credit compared with those who directly contributed towards Atalanta’s downfall.

Rating: 6

Joakim Maehle

Pushed further forward than usual, the Dane is still getting used to his new squad and teammates after arriving in January but fared well enough.

Rating: 6

Marten De Roon

Without his usual partner Remo Freuler, he was not at his best but still contributed on a frustrating evening.

Rating: 6

Matteo Pessina

Involved until he was replaced by Caldara, but the 23-year-old Italian ultimately was unable to impose himself.

Rating: 6

Robin Gosens

Not the wing back’s best evening as he missed a good early chance, picked up and injury and was replace by Ilicic in the second half.

Rating: 4

Ruslan Malinovskyi

Like many of his teammates, frustrated by an inability to do more going forward until it was too late to save the tie.

Rating: 6

Mario Pasalic

Included based on his showing over the weekend but replaced by Zapata for the second half as Atalanta hunted an equalizer.

Rating: 5

Luis Muriel

Scored with a late free-kick and was arguably the visitors’ hardest worker with three attempts on goal over the 90 minutes.

Rating: 7

Duvan Zapata

Came on for Pasalic at the start of the second half and helped to pose more of a threat but it was in ultimately of no use.

Rating: 5

Josip Ilicic

Added creativity in Gosens’ place and arguably needed to be on from the start to help bring about a goal.

Rating: 6 

Jose Luis Palomino

Firmed up the defense in Toloi’s place and added a set piece threat going forward.

Rating: N/A

Mattia Caldara

Was given a few minutes in Pessina’s place at the end and slotted in at right-back but there was little else he could do from there.

Rating: N/A

Aleksei Miranchuk

Replaced Muriel after his goal and Real killed it with their third almost immediately.

Rating: N/A

Gian Piero Gasperini

Set his team up to create early openings and arguably might have pulled something off without individual errors.

Rating: 6