There were more nerves than there should have been, fear gripping the Santiago Bernabéu and whistles puncturing the final minutes, the home side playing for time, but Real Madrid got there in the end. Thibaut Courtois had to make a save in the second minute of added time to secure a victory that had seemed secure and almost escaped them, two goals from Karim Benzema and a third from Casemiro giving them a 3-0 half-time lead, only for Borja Mayoral and Gonzalo Melero to make a game of this.

Aitor Fernández, Levante’s goalkeeper, had kept his side in this; now it was Courtois’s turn.

That had not seemed likely from the moment Benzema turned on the edge of the penalty area, his shot drawing a save from Fernández, diving high to his left. Twenty minutes had gone and while Fernández had previously denied Toni Kroos, it felt like something had started.

Immediately, Lucas Vázquez hit the post after Levante had played themselves into trouble. Again, Fernández had a hand on it. He was to have a busy afternoon in the rain.

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In front of him, Levante lost the ball repeatedly. That was partly their doing, partly Real’s: the pressure was increasing. Collectively, Real went after Levante, who could find no way out and did not always choose particularly sensible escape routes. There was something about Real’s attitude, the intensity, that has been absent for too long so while it may have been lowly Levante, this would have pleased Zinedine Zidane.

So would the goals. Benzema leapt between two defenders to head in Dani Carvajal’s inswinging cross for the first. Then a long ball was dealt with dreadfully, Sergio Postigo heading into the path of James Rodríguez, who slotted it in for Benzema to score the second.

The third followed five minutes before the break, when Rodríguez and Carvajal released Vinícius Júnior up the right. He pulled back for Casemiro to finish a little before the break. It appeared all over, but it wasn’t.

Real waited almost as long for that goal to be given, VAR making another unwanted and unwarranted appearance, as Levante did to pull one back at the start of the second half. Carlos Clerc’s ball found Mayoral to turn his shot first time past Courtois. The former Real Madrid player, and youth product, did not celebrate; the Bernabéu rewarded him with applause.

On the touchline, Eden Hazard had just come out to warm up. Benzema responded with a shot that bounced back off the post, before Hazard and Éder Militão came on.

Zidane was preparing for PSG on Wednesday, perhaps not anticipating there was still a game to play here. No one else foresaw it either. Casemiro had gone, and Madrid’s control had too. The structure disintegrated, although it still should not have mattered.

Within a minute, Rodríguez’s superb backheel found Hazard deep in the Levante area. He controlled and pulled it back for Vinícius. His shot was blocked, but Real won it back, Hazard chasing down and provoking a penalty-area pinball. Vinícius’s shot was saved, Rodríguez’s shot was saved, and then, with half a dozen players inside the six-yard box, Vinícius finally scored.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Eden Hazard after coming off the bench. Photograph: Soccrates Images/Getty Images

There was relief for a 19-year-old in need of a goal to go with the runs and the tricks, but VAR ruled it out for offside. Vinícius would be denied again, Fernández out to him six yards from goal after a wonderful pass from Rodríguez. By then Hazard had appeared again, providing a glimpse of his signature move. He began a long run from the left, inside towards the area and bent towards the far post, only for Fernández to dive and push it away.

José Luis Morales won a corner from nothing, which is what he wins most things from, and Melero headed in at the far post; 3-2, 15 minutes to go and the tension returned.

Real took their time over every throw, ran the ball to the corner, and counted every second. Levante, exhausted, tried to take the game to them. Two minutes into added time and Ruben Vezo’s diving header was pushed away from Courtois and three minutes later Morales hit the side-netting with a clever shot.

It was not supposed to be this way. The final whistle was met by a roar that spoke of relief.