Real Madrid were pulverised 5-2 by city rivals Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano on Saturday afternoon. After going ahead 2-1 through goals from Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler, Real Madrid failed to create a single goalscoring opportunity on one end, and were unable to stop Atletico Madrid from doing so on the other.
Here are three observations from the first loss of the season:
Real Madrid’s off-ball horrors return
Real Madrid looked good in the first seven games of the season. Apart from a few minor hiccups here and there, the defense was largely solid, and tests for Thibaut Courtois were either limited or easy enough to be stopped without any trouble. Most people would have wanted to hold their horses until Los Blancos actually faced a top team.
On Saturday, Atletico Madrid sent Real Madrid back to the problems that were the root cause of difficult losses last season. It was less about the coaching, and more about the players’ intensity. There was no bite on the ball, and no feeling of collectiveness off it.
Real Madrid’s defense was scathingly open, leaving gaps in the middle of the park as well as on the flanks. Real Madrid have played two games with 10 men this season, and it seemed like this may as well have been the third, because that is how much space they were offering to their neighbours.
Real Madrid let themselves go in midfield, and despite starting four in the middle of the park, it seemed like there was always one man missing. Aurelien Tchouameni put in his worst performance of the season by a long shot, and Fede Valverde was also finding it very difficult to do his usual Fede Valverde stuff. The spaces kept opening up for the Rojiblancos, and they obliged.
Raul Asencio came on for an injured Eder Militao, but put in one of his worst performances in a Real Madrid shirt. He was not the only one. Alvaro Carreras and Dean Huijsen — two new signings every Real Madrid fan has raved about since they joined — were far from their best in a loss that they will learn more from than any of the wins so far.
It was also tough to watch at every occasion when Atletico Madrid crossed the ball in or took set-pieces. It felt like Real Madrid defenders did not even want to be there to defend those opportunities. The five goals that Real Madrid conceded were: an unlucky penalty, two headers which were a result of poor man-marking and coverage, a free kick which took place due to a careless foul, and a last-minute goal with seemingly no coverage or intensity from any Real Madrid defender.
This is not a knock on Atletico Madrid’s goalscoring, which was efficient and worked perfectly. It just shows how Real Madrid were their own worst enemy. There was no intensity on the ball, and no intensity off it, and it looked like Real Madrid players had run themselves into the ground in a mid-season affair that had no real impact on the league standings. In reality, it was the exact opposite.
Real Madrid’s lack of intensity going forward was embarrassing
Los Blancos were anything but effective going forward. The two goals they scored in the first half were the only two real opportunities they had all game, and both of them came from attacks that did not look like they were going anywhere.
The team relied on heroics from goalscorers or goal-creators. Real Madrid looked defeated long before the game was decided. There was no bite from the midfield. Jude Bellingham (more on him later) was not effective, and the attack looked distant and disjointed for most of it.
Kylian Mbappe was fairly quiet apart from the goal, and Vinicius Jr’s assist to Arda Guler was also the only other highlight of the game.
There is not much to say in this regard. They looked toothless in possession. They kept recycling possession from one end to the other in search of some sort of space that was never going to open up for them.
Real Madrid’s xG was 0.96 on the night, and it seemed like there was no danger from them. They desperately lacked a presence on the pitch that would enable them to link up the play just that little bit more, but even with five attackers on the pitch at one point late in the second half, Real Madrid were unable to muster up one genuine opportunity to score. Jan Oblak was rarely tested, and it was just ridiculous to see.
The line-up choices and substitutions weren’t great
The loss is on the players more than anything, because they just were not up to the task, but some sort of blame will inevitably go to Xabi Alonso. He was not on the pitch, and he was not playing, but some of his decision-making was a bit surprising.
Jude Bellingham was not fit enough to start a scrappy and physical derby. He may have been a good option off the bench, and maybe it would not have mattered anyway, but apart from a few good challenges in the first half, Bellingham was not up to speed with the game. He looked gassed out by the time he was substituted, and the substitute itself came too late.
Franco Mastantuono would have started if it weren’t for Bellingham, and honestly, he would have helped a lot with his link-up play if he had started the match.
Arda Guler was one of the few bright spots in the starting XI, and even though he gave away the penalty, he was still pretty good. Subbing him off before Bellingham when Real Madrid were in desperate search for creativity was also baffling.
And, finally, not that it mattered much anyway, but Gonzalo Garcia should have been introduced way before he actually was. Real Madrid needed a presence inside Atleti’s penalty area, and it came too late.
There’s a lot to learn from, and hopefully, Alonso will be able to find solutions to this massacre.
Source link
