There was plenty to ponder following an enthralling
pre-season clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as Los Blancos claimed
the International Champions Cup
Real Madrid ramped up their pre-season preparations with a commanding 4-1 victory over Manchester City in the International Champions Cup.
The Spanish giants fielded as close to a full-strength side as possible, with just James Rodriguez missing, while City handed a debut to Fabian Delph, though it did not last long.
There was plenty to ponder for both Manuel Pellegrini and Rafael Benitez, and Goal brings you five talking points from the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
A first look at Fabian Delph for City fans was over just as soon as it began as the £8 million (€11m) signing from Aston Villa, who impressed early on, was stretchered off after injuring his left leg as he committed a foul on Luka Modric.
Manuel Pellegrini was forced to introduce orthodox winger Jesus Navas to fill the void and Madrid quickly began to overrun City through the middle.
Should Delph's injury prove to be serious, and with little over two weeks to go until the start of the Premier League season, the manager, short of genuine top-quality options in the middle, is back to where he started.
City are interested in Wolfsburg's Kevin de Bruyne but have struggled to make a breakthrough in their negotiations with the German club. Pellegrini's side lacked dynamism in the middle of the park last season and after Delph's injury, securing De Bruyne's services has become a priority.
The absence of Vincent Kompany, Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Demchelis afforded an opportunity for youngsters Cameron Humphreys and Jason Denayer to show what they can do.
A promising start fell apart just after Delph went off, when Denayer, who won Young Player of the Year in Scotland while on loan at Celtic last season, lost Karim Benzema moments before the France international put Madrid ahead with a well-taken overhead kick.
Minutes later, Humphreys failed to respond to a pinpoint long ball forward from Toni Kroos, allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to race through on goal. Aleksandar Kolarov was unable to get across in time to make a challenge and, although Joe Hart got a touch on Ronaldo's shot, he couldn't prevent City from going 2-0 down.
Both of the raw newcomers were at fault for the third goal, when they left Pepe and Sergio Ramos completely unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box from Isco's corner. Indeed, the only way Madrid would have failed to score was if the Spain international had gotten in the way of his fellow centre-back in the rush to accept the gift.
City's struggles in midfield and defence left Raheem Sterling, operating as the most advanced member of the front three, isolated and with little to feed on.
Just as in his debut against Roma on Tuesday, he was booed again by many of the 99,382 fans at the MCG, but this time there was no early goal to relieve him of his status as pantomime villain.
For the third time in the tournament the 20-year-old went down easily looking for a penalty, an act that did nothing to endear him to an already hostile crowd.
Such was his ineffectiveness, by the end of the half Sterling had reverted to the wing, with substitute Jesus Navas moving to the right flank and Samir Nasri trying his luck in the middle.
There was more of the same after the break, as the star signing toiled without reward until his withdrawal on 68 minutes.
Daniel Carvajal has been a reliable enough presence for Madrid at right-back in recent seasons, but he faces a new challenge this season in the form of Danilo, a €25m signing from Porto.
The Spaniard started the game and should perhaps have made more of the vacuum down City's left, where Delph's injury and the introduction of Navas left the Premier League side exposed when out of possession.
On the only occasion Carvajal got far enough forward to attempt a cross he failed to beat the first man.
Danilo, by contrast, introduced at the break and clearly keen to impress, demonstrated visibly high energy levels and a willingness to push on whenever possible, although a short pass sold Cristiano Ronaldo short in one of the few promising counterattacks he was involved in.
With new rival Kiko Casilla watching on from the bench, Keylor Navas started again for Madrid and, thanks in no small part to Sterling's struggles at centre-forward, didn't have a lot to do.
Underemployed but not exactly convincing against Roma last time out, his first serious involvement on Friday was clattering into Yaya Toure while attempting to clear an awkwardly bouncing ball that Sergio Ramos had failed to deal with. It could easily have been a penalty.
The Ivorian had his revenge on both players when the centre-back gave away a penalty for handball, Toure then sending Navas the wrong way to score from the spot.
It may simply be a question of poor body language, but when will Madrid see the goalkeeper who so impressed for Costa Rica at the World Cup? With Casilla waiting in the wings, the 'real' Keylor Navas may not be afforded many more opportunities to emerge. Especially with Madrid reportedly still desperate to lure David de Gea to the Santiago Bernabeu.
He wasn't the only one under scrutiny on Friday, either, with City's England international Hart struggling for the first two goals, fumbling crosses and having to pick the ball out the back of his net four times.
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