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Three talking points ahead of Athletic Club vs Real Madrid | La Liga MD 38
Real Madrid will take to the field for the final time this season tonight, and it will be against Athletic Club de Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu.
With the league title already decided, not much rides on the game or the eventual result, but the match will still bear significance as it represents the end of several chapters at the club.
The last time Athletic Club locked horns against Real Madrid this season, Los Blancos ran away with a 3-0 win away from home.
Given that the Basque side are not enjoying their best moment in terms of form, especially with just one win in their last five games, Real Madrid will look to capitalise on their chance to finish the season strong tomorrow.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Athletic Club de Bilbao.
Farewell to the stalwarts
It has become a norm at this point for Real Madrid to lose one or more key players at the end of every season – and it has more often than not been captains at the end of their contracts.
Having lost Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Nacho Fernandez, and Karim Benzema in recent years, it is now the turn of Dani Carvajal to bid the club of his dreams adieu.
The Spanish full-back has not seen much playing time this season and never quite returned to his former level after the injury he suffered to his knee. With Trent Alexander-Arnold now at the club to replace him, it is time to leave.
Carvajal, thus, will say goodbye to Real Madrid, the Bernabeu, and the club faithful on Sunday night in what will be an emotional affair for the veteran stalwart.
Alongside him, David Alaba will also bid the fans and the stadium goodbye as his contract approaches expiry and the club have decided against renewing his deal.
The past two years have not been easy for him either, but one cannot forget how he was a pillar in Real Madrid’s defence a few seasons ago and the impact he had on the team when he was at his best.
Arbeloa’s final game in charge
Ahead of the clash against Athletic Club on Sunday night, Real Madrid manager confirmed that he will be leaving the club this summer and will not continue as the manager next season.
The matter was already an open secret for a long time, but his confirmation made it official and also helped him exit the club with grace instead of being shown the door.
Real Madrid are thus heading for a radical change in ideas, tactics and approach with Jose Mourinho set to take over from the current manager next month. This game, in that sense, marks the end of the Arbeloa chapter for the club.
While his tenure at the club was not the most memorable in terms of results, he will always be remembered as a good man-manager who stepped in amid crisis and did a decent job despite it being out of his depth.
His tenure may have begun smoothly with him supporting players in the dressing room and having their backs, but he too got dragged into the dressing room politics towards the end and experienced its wrath, with players no longer maintaining any respect for him.
What can be said about his tenure, however, is that he is a good manager, but he earned the biggest chance of his career at the wrong time with the wrong players.
As was the case with Xabi Alonso, the dressing room made the image of him poorer than it was.
How will the Bernabeu receive Valverde
Federico Valverde’s fight with Aurelien Tchouameni earlier this month took media outlets by storm and made it clear that Real Madrid’s internal environment is more turbulent than meets the eye.
In the brawl between the two stars, Valverde was supposedly the initiator but also ended up as the more aggrieved party as he was admitted to the hospital for traumatic brain injury after hitting his head against a table.
Irrespective of how the situation was handled internally, the fight did not go down well with the fans and Tchouameni faced their wrath in Real Madrid’s home win against Real Oviedo when he was booed.
Tomorrow, Valverde returns to the field for the first time since that debacle and it will be interesting to see how the bernabeu receives the player or responds to him returning to the field.
It is no secret that Valverde is key to Real Madrid’s midfield plans and that his return must be greeted with cheers by the fans. His behaviour and involvement in the fight, however, may well see him receive a hostile response.
As the captain of Real Madrid, how the audience receive Valverde holds a lot of significance. After all, the club cannot afford any further rifts between the players and the fans.
Real Madrid made a mess of their game against Elche last night, and it is clear that the men in white have several flaws with no answers at the moment.
From being 2-0 up, the men in white bottled their lead and threw the game into jeopardy by permitting Elche to score two goals. The result, as many saw it, was set to end in a draw.
With some persistent attacks in the dying minutes, however, Real Madrid managed to build pressure on Elche and eventually scored one more goal at the death to take home the three points.
Needless to say, however, the negatives from the game far outweigh the positive news of the three points.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Elche 2-3 Real Madrid.
Another second-half collapse
After Real Madrid’s win over Rayo Vallecano at the weekend, Jose Mourinho stressed the fact that Real Madrid actually played only one half and that the fatigue began showing after the break.
On the night, the opposition began to enjoy more dominance and create chances after half-time as they outran and outpressed Los Blancos to good effect.
Last night was no different, and the second half went completely awry.
The men in white entered the half-time break cruising with a 2-0 lead and significant dominance over the proceedings. They had a massive xG, with Elche barely creating any chances of note.
After the break, however, the entire dynamic of the game changed as Real Madrid took a step back and handed the impetus to the hosts. Pressing high and attacking without fear, Elche dominated Real Madrid for most of the second half and had a staggering 60% of possession.
They scored twice – in the 71st and 83rd minutes – and equalised Real Madrid on the night. Given the visitors’ shambolic display, it was deserved for Elche.
At this point, the constant second-half collapses and fatigue struggles of the team after just 45 minutes of action must worry Jose Mourinho immensely. Heading into a derby away from home, Real Madrid have to do much better.
The away curse continues
While Real Madrid’s form at home has been imperious this season, their form away from home has been equally shocking.
They began their season with a last-minute win over Espanyol, and their second league game of the season on the road came against Real Betis and ended in defeat.
Heading into their third away game last night, there was an element of worry about how they would perform, and the trend continued once more.
Real Madrid did well to take the lead on the night, but they made the second half a massive war and far more difficult than it should have been.
At this point, serious questions have to be raised about Real Madrid’s form on the road and their inability to keep games under control when playing in away stadiums.
Heading forward in the season, Los Blancos have some massive away games coming up against far more difficult opposition. The Madrid derby is up next, and the team’s form is nothing promising heading into that fixture.
Carlos Espi saves the day… again!
Real Madrid are currently on 15 points after six games in the league, but Carlos Espi has directly contributed to a massive chunk of that.
If not for the new Spanish striker’s ability to come up clutch in big moments, Real Madrid could well have been on just 11 points at this stage in the season, and the four points he has added are absolutely crucial.
Against Espanyol, it was Espi who scored a stoppage-time winner to hand Real Madrid all three points after a complicated match. Last night, he repeated the same heroics once more.
With the team staring at a draw, the new signing was at the right place at the right time to bury Kylian Mbappe’s assist in stoppage time, handing Real Madrid all three points at the death.
He may not have played a large part on the night, but his cameo was again powerful and it is clear that he elevates the team’s attack and provides new solutions in front of goal. Espi has already proven his talent, and his ability to perform under pressure is what makes him special.
