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Atletico Madrid 1-2 Real Madrid: Match Review
With eight wins in as many games, Real Madrid headed into Matchday 6 with their biggest game yet on the horizon. Los Blancos were set to take on Atletico Madrid in their first derby of the season and, needless to say, all eyes were on the Civitas Metropolitano on Sunday night.
Carlo Ancelotti had Eder Militao back on the night and placed the Brazilian alongside David Alaba at the heart of the defence. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos were joined by Aurelien Tchouameni in midfield while Federico Valverde, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo rounded off the attack.
For Atletico Madrid, the biggest news was that Antoine Griezmann was finally given a first start of the season amidst the uncertainty around his contractual clause.
Los Rojiblancos dominated the opening play and were the first team to go on the offensive on the night. Felipe and Geoffrey Kondogbia had early chances in the game but didn’t utilise their opportunities.
Real Madrid scored against the run of play in the 18th minute after some wonderful combination play between Tchouameni and Rodrygo. The Brazilian began the move with a pass to the midfielder who instantly lobbed it over the defence and returned the pass. With just Oblak to beat, Rodrygo did not make any mistake in front of the goal.
Exactly 18 minutes after the opener, Los Blancos extended their lead to two on the night. This time it was Vinicius who tormented the hosts’ defence with a mazy run before firing a shot at Oblak. The shot-stopper made the save but the rebound fell kindly for Federico Valverde who tucked it away.
The intensity of the game fell in the second half with neither team looking inspired in the attack. While the visitors were happy to hold onto their two-goal lead, one could not fathom why Diego Simeone’s side did not come out of the dressing room with more purpose and intent.
With seven minutes of regulation time to go, Simeone’s side pulled one back through a set-piece. Thibaut Courtois completely missed a corner and substitute Mario Hermoso diverted it home via his shoulder. Suddenly, the game was alive again.
The 90th minute saw the goalscorer sent off for a trivial foul leading to his second yellow card. However, there were questions asked as to whether the defender’s offence was red card worthy.
The game ended in a 2-1 win for Real Madrid despite the hosts’ best efforts to equalise in the dying minutes. With this win, Ancelotti’s champions reclaim the top spot from Barcelona and head into the international break as the La Liga leaders, with their winning streak undisturbed.
Roma made Real Madrid suffer for over 80 minutes on Wednesday night, and with a 3-1 lead, looked good for the win.
A flurry of set-pieces and accurate conversion, however, saved Los Blancos and helped them take all three points against the run of play.
The true depth of the club’s forward line was on full show on the night as Kylian Mbappe, Endrick and Carlos Espi all scored for Real Madrid and contributed to the 4-1 win.
What the result once again proved, however, is that the team under Jose Mourinho continues to have severe lacunae that will be punished by any elite European opposition.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Roma 3-4 Real Madrid.
A mess of an encounter
Real Madrid simply seem incapable of winning a game of football without suffering and making a massive mess out of it at this point, and the win last night did not change that perspective in any sense.
Los Blancos were outplayed by Roma for the major part of the night as the hosts played with more intent, attacking freedom and possession against Real Madrid.
Jose Mourinho’s men have been unconvincing on the road this season, and last night appeared set to go down as another defeat until a massive turn of events in the final ten minutes.
Earning back-to-back set pieces, Real Madrid managed to convert a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win, but that does not speak to the team’s dominance in any capacity.
In the past, such a remontada would be celebrated as a mark of the team’s mentality, but those feelings do not seem to predominate this time around. Instead, the game is largely being viewed as an outing that exposed Real Madrid’s problems once again, but where they got fortunate enough to take three points.
The signs, at this point, continue to be extremely worrying and Mourinho and Co. have a lot of effort to put in if they are to overturn the team’s situation.
Substitutes outperform the starters
Jose Mourinho’s starting lineup against Roma was a representation of the mental picture the manager has of the team – and was his ‘strongest’ XI on paper.
Summer signings Marc Cucurella and Ibrahima Konate started in defence alongside Antonio Rudiger and Denzel Dumfries.
The ‘Gala’ midfield of Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde joined Jude Bellingham in midfield while Yan Diomande, Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe all started.
Despite all the big names featuring from the get-go, however, Real Madrid simply failed to create any passage of dominant play, nor did they create regular openings to score. Instead, they remained on the back foot comfortably, and matters only changed after substitutions rolled in.
Mourinho brought on Endrick and Arda Guler at the hour mark, replacing Vinicius and Dumfries, and thereby increased the attacking intensity. With Guler on the field, the team finally had a creative spark and Endrick constantly threatened the box.
Slightly later, the coach brought on Bernardo Silva for Aurelien Tchouameni, handing the team far more stability and control in midfield and restoring some level of order.
The arrivals of Carlos Espi and Alvaro Carreras in the 78th minute finally freed Real Madrid and they managed to pull off the comeback.
Every single one of the players who came on played a significant part in the comeback, be it the stability and creativity Silva and Guler offered or the attacking solutions Endrick and Espi brought. Even Carreras was an upgrade over Marc Cucurella.
How much disarray is too much disarray?
Given how Real Madrid’s midfield has looked this season, there will inevitably come a point when Jose Mourinho pulls the plug on the Valverde-Tchouameni plan.
The manager currently sees the duo as his best defensive midfield combination for the big games, but the disarray in midfield is growing with every game and the duo are unable to provide the control Real Madrid requires.
A breaking point, in that sense, will certainly arrive, but the bigger question is how much disarray is required for the manager to pull the plug on a plan that is clearly not working.
Against Roma last night, the game changed completely after Bernardo Silva came on for Tchouameni, and that alone shows how glaring the midfield problem currently is.
Not only did the Tchouameni-Valverde pairing struggle to keep possession, but they offered no attacking edge or creative spark and even looked shaky defensively.
There is an urgent need to bring the likes of Guler and Bernardo Silva into the starting dynamics for Real Madrid, and only time will tell when Mourinho will decide he has seen enough.
