Real Madrid News
Real Madrid expect key midfielder to recover in time for La Liga opener
Real Madrid do not have far to go before their pre-season officially comes to a close and their La Liga opener against Espanyol gets underway.
Jose Mourinho has had a very productive pre-season upon his return to the club, with the Portuguese tactician slowly recovering his entire squad.
Madrid have also had the challenge of integrating as many as six new signings into the squad, which is rarely a piece of cake.
One player who still has not featured under Jose Mourinho is Aurelien Tchouameni, with the Frenchman recovering from some muscular discomfort.
Now, according to Arancha Rodriguez, Tchouameni is expected to recover in time for Real Madrid’s opening La Liga game against Espanyol.
Tchouameni is not far away from a full recovery
Tchouameni was among the final group of Madrid players to return following his extended involvement at the World Cup.
However, the midfielder was unable to immediately join Jose Mourinho’s full training sessions after experiencing muscular discomfort.
Madrid have consequently been careful with his workload rather than taking unnecessary risks during pre-season.
The 26-year-old carried a problem throughout Les Bleus’ World Cup campaign and missed out on some of his nation’s important games.
Important boost for Jose
Having Tchouameni available would be particularly important for Mourinho given the uncertainty surrounding his preferred midfield combination.
Madrid missed out on Rodri, who chose Barcelona as his preferred destination, leaving Mourinho to construct his midfield using the options already available to him.
Tchouameni is one of the squad’s most natural defensive midfielders and has been an important presence since arriving at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2022.
His physicality, defensive coverage and ability to protect the back line could make him particularly useful if Mourinho persists with the double-pivot system he has been working on during pre-season.
Competition remains intense in midfield
Tchouameni will still have considerable competition once fully fit.
Fede Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, Bernardo Silva and Arda Guler are among Mourinho’s alternatives, while youngster Thiago Pitarch is also expected to remain involved with the senior squad.
That gives the Portuguese coach several possible combinations depending on what he wants from his midfield.
Tchouameni has also previously played in central defence, although Jose will hope that he does not find himself in a situation where he needs to use the Frenchman there.
There is also some chatter surrounding his future, but Madrid have made it clear that the 26-year-old will stay unless an extraordinary offer comes in.
Having Tchouameni back is a major boost for Los Blancos, and it remains to be seen how many minutes he is available to play against Espanyol.
Kylian Mbappe’s blistering start to the season has already hit its first bump, with the Real Madrid forward’s missed penalty against Real Betis exposing an area of his game that has historically been less reliable.
Mbappe had given Madrid fans plenty of reasons for optimism in the opening weeks.
He scored a hat-trick against Real Sociedad before finding the net again against Malaga, making it four goals across his first three matches of the season.
The performance against Betis, though, was a different story.
Mbappe struggled to make the same impact and then missed an injury-time penalty, with Alvaro Valles making the save as Madrid eventually suffered a 0-1 defeat.
Mbappe’s penalty numbers make uncomfortable reading
Mbappe’s latest miss adds to a record that is far from elite when compared with some of Real Madrid’s previous specialists.
Including the Betis penalty, Mbappe has now missed 16 of the 81 penalties he has taken during his career, excluding shoot-outs. That represents a failure rate of 19.7%.
His numbers with Real Madrid are even less convincing, having converted 19 of 24 penalties for the club, meaning his miss rate stands at 20.8%, effectively one missed penalty in every five attempts.
Mbappe’s record compared with Madrid legends
The comparison with Real Madrid’s previous penalty takers provides better context.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed only 13 of his 92 penalties, giving him a miss rate of 14.1%. Sergio Ramos was considerably more dependable, missing just one of his 23 attempts, which is a rate of 4.3%.
All three sets of figures exclude penalty shoot-outs, making the comparison more relevant to normal match situations.
Mbappe therefore has work to do if he is to reach the level of reliability expected from a team’s primary penalty taker.
Sure, his overall goalscoring numbers remain outstanding, but penalties are an important part of that production.
Mourinho should keep faith with Mbappe
Meanwhile, there is little reason for Jose Mourinho or the Real Madrid dressing room to lose confidence in Mbappe because of one miss on matchday four.
His opening performances, particularly the hat-trick against Real Sociedad, provide ample evidence of his quality, and the greater concern may be psychological rather than tactical.
Mbappe’s confidence from the spot will be worth watching, especially because of what he is chasing this season.
The Ballon d’Or, Pichichi and Golden Boot are all among his ambitions, and penalties offer a valuable route towards the goals required for those prizes.
