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After the Liverpool game, there was a consensus on Real Madrid only working well until his next great test. It is assumed that the only fire test for this team has a continuous success without facing the defensive problems they currently face, and regardless of the team against which they play, the fire test fails many times. Real Madrid lost 1-0 against Espanyol on Saturday night, pressing a week before Atlético de Madrid visits Bernabéu. Here are three quick observations.
To blame the referee anywhere?
Real Madrid felt hard made against Espanyol. The scorer of the local team, Carlos Romero, made a precipitated challenge in Kylian Mbappe minutes before scoring the winning goal. There is no doubt in my mind, the player should have been expelled. The crime did not coincide with the punishment received. It was a counterattack for Real Madrid, and Romero’s Tackle was well above the ankle and the first studs. It was a horrible challenge, and Real Madrid has shown disappointment and anger in press releases, reports of parties and through RMTV. But, frankly speaking, that’s not the point, right?
Real Madrid would have faced 10 men if that red card was given. In that way, Espanyol cannot score a winner, and things could be opened so that the visiting team marks their own goal. But how does that matter? You can say that Romero should not have been in the field and, therefore, should not have scored, but it was, and he did. Whatever the case, Real Madrid defended badly there. It is as simple as defending the player if he is in the field. The rest is secondary to the final beep.
Real Madrid lost the plot in that goal. All those involved were lost, from Fede Valverde to Lucas Vázquez, and showed the defensive insufficiency of the Real. They used them in their sleeves. Real Madrid got into the hole, and Espanyol’s defense did not let them out.
Complating from the referee against Espanyol, who is at the foot of the table, will not help. Addressing these defensive problems with which Real Madrid has been cursed this season, could. It is a pity that after more than 30 games this season so far, that is a thing in which we have seen some consistency. I understand indignation and support, but that will not take you anywhere.
Carlo Ancelotti and the art of running the players to the ground
Real Madrid has four centrals, not including Jesús Vallejo. One of them is Eder Militao, recently recovered from an ACL injury last season, which was only finding his rhythm. The other, David Alaba, was recovering from one, who left Antonio Rudiger and Raúl Asencio on his own.
Militao was lost due to another ACL injury, which forced Ancelotti and gave opportunities to Asencio. It was worth it, but it was not enough for Asencio to remain in the field after the return of Aurelien Tchouameni. Ancelotti would prefer to play a midfielder in which he trusts out of position, than an support center that has not had a bad game throughout the season.
It made no sense. Real Madrid would have been much better to give Rudiger a very necessary break since it was overloaded. The option to play Asencio was there, was good There, but it was decided that Rudiger would start his 40,000 game of the season.
Rudiger left in the first half, leaving only three options for Real Madrid. A pseudo-center in Tchouameni, a graduate of the Academy in Asencio and an alaba that has not played a complete game in more than a year.
It made a lot of sense for Real Madrid to sign a new backward center in January, and decided not to do so, so this is bothering fans worldwide. It is a terrible planning of the squad (in some positions) and continues depending on the players who are outside the back of the injuries that end the season.
After the second rupture of ACL of Militao, Real Madrid should have realized that depending on a player returning from a long -term injury it was not the way to follow. They had all January to plan their actions, but chose to do the same with Alaba. With luck, Alaba is not injured, of course, but it is disconcerting to see that the club is not learning from its mistakes.
It is difficult to see a Real Madrid defense without Rudiger, but we will have to do it for at least 20 days. That includes three games that could decide the fate of the Real Madrid season. A Derby Home vs Atlético and the UCL playoffs against Manchester City in January. It is not just Ancelotti or only the club who is to blame. It is both.
Some notes
Real Madrid did not score, but Ceballos was once again the facilitator and the distributor, and played his role perfectly. Whatever happens, Ceballos will be the clear winner individually at the end of the season.
Real Madrid must try to keep it close, since the only time they are organized is when Ceballos is in the field. The average of the maximum career in the passes, the precision and the touches (and much more) will only help Ceballos and Madrid this season, it only depends on how others are taking that help.
It was also blatantly obvious that the players of the first team were out of it. Fede Valverde had several out of place passes that would have led to the opportunities for Espanyol if it were not for the last -hour cleaning work of Raúl Asencio. Jude Bellingham could not be launched, and neither Mbappe and Vinicius. Lucas Vázquez also had a strange game.
Despite all this, Ancelotti was satisfied with performance, which is disconcerting. Real Madrid did not play well enough, and yet, everything Ancelotti could speak at the press conference were arbitration decisions.
Those things were not under the control of Real Madrid, as cruel as they were. How they work is definitely in their control, and Real Madrid, as a collective and individually, showed that their heads were elsewhere.
With Manchester City advance, do you really want your players to play like this? Responsibility is needed.
