Matches
Diomande, Bellingham start in a 4-2-3-1: How Real Madrid can line up against Inter Milan
Following their first loss of the season against Real Betis, Real Madrid face a tough test tonight as they take on Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu in their UEFA Champions League opener.
The Nerazzurri are first of a tricky set of opponents for the Merengues in the league phase of Europe’s premier competition and will pose a monumental challenge to Jose Mourinho and his men.
After all, the Serie A champions have won each of their three matches this season, with their latest game ending in a 3-2 comeback win over Napoli.
The fact that Real Madrid go into the game with some notable absences makes the task even harder, given as Mourinho will be unable to call upon Arda Guler, Bernardo Silva, and Eduardo Camavinga through suspensions.
Meanwhile, Raul Asencio, Eder Militao, and Rodrygo remain unavailable through injuries, whereas Ferland Mendy has not been registered in the Champions League this season.
There is some positive news, though, with Endrick, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Thiago Pitarch recovering from their physical issues, which could lead them to making their comeback tonight, but not as starters.
With some major decisions to be made with regard to his personnel, here is how Mourinho could set out his Real Madrid lineup tonight at the Bernabeu.
Defence
Thibaut Courtois remains the undisputed starter in goal for Real Madrid and will be key to them getting off the mark in the Champions League this season.
As for the defence, Ibrahima Konate is seemingly ahead of Antonio Rudiger in the centre-back position and start again tonight. He will partner with Dean Huijsen, who has been a standout performer under Mourinho.
On the right side of the defence, Denzel Dumfries should get the nod against his former club, with Trent Alexander-Arnold likely being held back as a possible option in midfield.
World Cup winner Marc Cucurella will continue on the left, ahead of Alvaro Carreras, despite coming off with a minor physical concern against Betis.
Midfield
The midfield department is where things get tricky for Mourinho and Real Madrid, given that Bernardo Silva, Eduardo Camavinga, and Arda Guler are unavailable and Aurelien Tchouameni is not ready to start matches.
Federico Valverde is an obvious starter in one of the two positions, and as for his partner, Mourinho has options like using Trent in midfield or turning to youngster Jorge Cestero.
But the likeliest route that the Portuguese tactician will take is to pull Jude Bellingham into a deeper position for tonight’s game, despite the England superstar’s effectiveness as a No. 10 in the first few matches.
With Bellingham moving into the double pivot and Guler unavailable, it should pave the way for Brahim Diaz to slot in as the central attacking midfielder for Los Blancos.
Attack
This could finally turn out to be the night that Real Madrid’s most expensive signing of the summer, Yan Diomande, makes his first start for the club.
The Ivorian international has so far only featured off the bench, with Mourinho preferring Guler on the right. But with the Turkish star suspended and Brahim operating centrally, the door is open for Diomande to start.
Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. will retain their respective places in the Real Madrid attacking line and hope to make a mark after failing to do so at the weekend.
Features
Clean sheet at last, Vinicius’ moment of madness | Three takeaways from Real Madrid 1-0 Villarreal
Real Madrid took all three points against Villarreal on Saturday night to get back on track after the international break, and thus ensured they did not continue sinking after the defeat at the Madrid derby.
Jose Mourinho made some bold decisions in his starting XI as he benched Vinicius Jr., playing Yan Diomande on the left-flank and Arda Guler on the right flank.
The dynamics worked out decently well, and it was eventually the new record signing who scored for the club to hand them the lead and the win.
Compared to performances before the international break, there was an improvement in terms of Real Madrid’s level, but the team are still far off from where they must be to make a strong case to be title contenders.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Madrid 1-0 Villarreal.
The struggle continues
All of Real Madrid’s season so far has been of struggles and difficult wins, and the same theme continued last night as the team returned from the international break.
Los Blancos have failed to look convincing for a long time now, and they did not dominate Villarreal in any capacity last night as well.
Continuing with the same theme of winning by narrow margins and scraping past the finish line, they registered yet another 1-0 win that did not leave anyone convinced.
Yan Diomande’s goal was the only positive takeaway from the night, and even that was made possible only after a narrow offside decision went in their favor. With the firepower they have, struggling to create chances to such an extent seems inexcusable.
With a difficult month ahead, last night’s game did not give fans any reason to believe matters have changed after the international break. At this rate, the coming month could be a bleak one for Los Blancos.
Vinicius’ moment of madness
Of all the events that transpired at the Santiago Bernabeu last night, the most memorable one was the incident involving Vinicius Jr.’s goal, and embarrassingly so.
Having seemingly scored a great goal ten minutes after Diomande’s opener, the Brazilian star was on his way to celebrate the achievement, but what unfolded thereafter was embarrassing.
The VAR found an incident of Vinicius pulling the hair of a Villarreal player for no apparent reason in the build-up to the goal, and at this point there can be no arguments defending the player’s behavior.
As one of the biggest names of one of Europe’s biggest clubs, there has to be a sense of responsibility in one’s role – something Vinicius simply does not seem to have. What he did last night was simply inexcusable.
A lot can be said about VAR’s selective interference, but what cannot be argued is that what Vinicius did last night was a clear red card offense.
He will now miss El Clasico and will serve at least a two-game suspension. Whether that is a boon or a bane for Real Madrid, at this point, remains unknown and only time will tell.
A clean sheet at last
Ahead of last night’s win over Villarreal, Real Madrid had only overseen one clean sheet in eight games across competitions.
In that sense, simply keeping the opposition from scoring last night was an achievement in itself for Los Blancos, and it could not have come at a better time.
Real Madrid entered the game without many of their regular defenders available, especially with Dean Huijsen suspended and Eder Militao and Raul Asencio out through injury.
Ibrahima Konate and Antonio Rudiger, thus, started in central defense on the night and both did phenomenally well for Los Blancos. They were joined by Alvaro Carreras and Trent Alexander-Arnold, both of whom complemented the duo well.
The right-back was a relatively weak link defensively, but Konate and Rudiger were spot-on with their reading of the game to keep the Villarreal attack from scoring. They both did eventually pick up yellow cards, but Villarreal finished the game without a single big chance created.
Finding defensive stability, which is the cornerstone of Mourinho’s project, is massive for the manager, and he will be pleased to have a new working formula.
What happens after Huijsen’s return, however, remains to be seen, as the manager may well like to hand the new duo some more chances to prove their consistency.
