Elche vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid came away from the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero with all three points on Tuesday night, but it took some nerve to hold on as Elche roared back in the second half of a 2-3 thriller. The visitors looked firmly in control at the break, two goals to the good, and seemed set for a comfortable evening's work. Elche had other ideas. The home side came out fighting after half-time and dragged themselves right back into contention, turning a routine away win into a genuine scrap. In the end Real Madrid's cushion proved just enough. For Elche there will be plenty of regret at the manner of the start, having let such a promising recovery count for only pride. For Real Madrid, it's three points banked, even if the performance will need tightening up before their next league test.

Real Madrid beat Elche 2-3 at Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, and the numbers from the match back up how the game played out. Even without the extra share of possession, which finished 56% in favour of Elche, Real Madrid made the most of the chances that mattered and did enough to see the game out. The shot count told a similar story, with 11 attempts from Elche against 20 from Real Madrid over the course of the game. Elche had their moments and did not make it easy from start to finish, but ultimately came up short on the day. Small margins like this one tend to add up over a season, and results such as this are often what separates teams in the table further down the line. Here is a closer look at exactly how the two sides compared, statistically.