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Three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Malaga | La Liga MD 3
Real Madrid’s start to life at the Santiago Bernabeu for the new season could not have gone any better as they destroyed Real Sociedad by a 4-1 scoreline in their first game in front of home fans.
Later today, they play their second consecutive clash at home, this time in an earlier kickoff against Malaga.
The newly promoted side have had a mixed start to life in the first division, losing to Atletico Madrid on Matchday 1 but salvaging a 1-1 draw against Deportivo de A Coruna in their subsequent game.
Needless to say, however, Real Madrid pose their biggest challenge yet, and it is safe to say that Jose Mourinho’s men will be the overwhelming favourites coming into the game.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Malaga.
A start for Cucurella
Marc Cucurella’s announcement as a new Real Madrid player just before Spain’s curtain-raiser at the FIFA World Cup came as a surprise to many, and the player’s performances at the event made him a hugely hyped arrival.
Taking to the field for La Roja, the left-back was consistently one of the best players on the field for his nation and finished the tournament as a pillar of Luis de La Fuente’s side.
Arriving at Real Madrid off the back of such a stellar event, needless to say, made it clear that he would be the undisputed starter at left-back under Jose Mourinho.
The first two games of the season, however, have not followed suit as the manager has preferred Alvaro Carreras over Cucurella.
While that might suggest that the manager rates the former more than the World Cup winner, it is more likely that he was gradually phasing the new signing in considering how he returned late to pre-season.
Now heading into the third game of the campaign, it is high time Cucurella enters the starting lineup, with the manager confirming that to be the case during his press conference.
So far, the new signing has been solid in all his appearances and has left a good impression, arriving at a new club. It will be interesting to see how he fares on his first start for Real Madrid.
Lessons to be carried forward
One of the biggest takeaways from Real Madrid’s win over Real Sociedad midweek was how the men in white turned their situation completely around in the second half.
While they were in the driving seat throughout, the first half saw a far more balanced game with even the visitors creating their fair share of chances.
After the break, however, it was one-way traffic as Real Madrid dominated, created chances and even finished them with conviction. What changed was the combination play and improved understanding between the big three up front.
Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr. have all started the new season strongly, with the Frenchman and Englishman particularly looking in imperious form.
What has been lacking, however, is the understanding between the trio and the acceptance to play for the team and not individual accolades.
In the second half against La Real, Real Madrid finally played with a sense of long-lost selflessness and the trio began combining wonderfully. The buildup flowed without any hindrance and the result followed suit.
Later today, the effort must remain the same. If Real Madrid can continue operating on the same bandwidth and maintain that consistency, there will simply be no stopping them.
Improvement needed in defence
While Real Madrid may well have won both their games so far in La Liga, there is a clear sense that certain departments must improve.
One department that Jose Mourinho has marked in red, on that front, is the defence where Los Blancos have continued to look relatively shaky.
In both of the team’s games so far, Real Madrid have failed to maintain a clean sheet and the defence has been sliced open quite easily. Surprisingly, they conceded shortly after taking the lead on both nights.
The lapses in concentration, needless to say, are simply not acceptable, more so in a team led by Mourinho where the defence is the heart of the team’s success.
Ibrahima Konate and Dean Huijsen have been the manager’s preferred centre-halves so far this season, and all signs point to them continuing in that position. However, every game at this point is a test where they must show conspicuous improvement.
Concurrently, there will be more emphasis on improving the overall defensive output and working as a collective unit on that front. That too will remain a point of focus as the men in white grace the field for the third time in the new season.
Keeping a clean sheet, needless to say, will be an unsaid objective for the team as a whole, with special emphasis on the double-pivot and defence.
Not many saw the result that unfolded at the Estadio de La Cartuja last night coming, as Real Madrid slipped to a shocking 1-0 defeat to Real Betis.
Jose Mourinho made a couple of changes to his team on the night but fielded one of his strongest possible XIs, acknowledging the difficulty of the challenge Los Verdiblancos posed.
The first half ended scoreless, with the visitors completely dominating the flow of the game but failing to convert their chances. After the break, they only upped the ante and pressed higher to break the deadlock.
Almost against the flow of the game, however, Troy Parrott fired from very close range to put his side ahead through a set-piece, and Real Madrid had just ten minutes to find two goals.
A hard-fought ten minutes, a disallowed goal and a missed penalty later, however, the full-time whistle blew with Real Madrid staring at defeat.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Betis 1-0 Real Madrid.
A first loss under Mourinho
Real Madrid’s lacunae were visible in the team’s first away clash of the new season when they took home a last-gasp win over Espanyol.
They looked comfortable at home, but it has always been clear that they are not invincible.
A first defeat of the season, in that sense, was always just a matter of time as the team continued to develop under Jose Mourinho, and that setback appeared early in the campaign last night.
The defeat to Real Betis at the Estadio de La Cartuja continued Real Madrid’s trend of struggling away from home and exposed the team’s lacunae to the world once more.
A lot can be said about the refereeing and how the result was harsh on Los Blancos, but the fact of the matter remains that a team with the talent that Real Madrid possesses simply has no excuses to look so blunt in attack.
Jose Mourinho’s men created chances in abundance on the night, but none of the team’s star forwards could effectively finish a single chance.
Kylian Mbappe had a rare off-night and even Jude Bellingham did not score from any of his three shots. Vinicius Jr., Arda Guler, Yan Diomande and Carlos Espi all had their chances, but all failed to bury even a single chance.
In the end, it can be called misfortune, but for Real Madrid to have made nothing of an xG of 3.46 and to miss a penalty in the same game has to be dug into. The players did not play poorly, but the lack of a lethal finish came back to bite them.
Mbappe’s controversial penalty
Real Madrid had a massive chance to salvage something from the frustrating night in the 94th minute when the referee awarded the visitors a penalty that would see them return to level terms.
Kylian Mbappe stepped up, and it was taken for granted that the Frenchman would score as usual. Astonishingly, however, Mbappe did not find the back of the net.
For starters, it must be said that the Merengues have no one to blame but themselves for the defeat to Real Betis, for they could not have had a clearer chance to steal at least a point away from the night.
However, there was a clear element of controversy in the spot-kick that must not be misinterpreted as an excuse.
At the precise moment that Mbappe struck the ball from the spot, a Real Betis player was half inside the penalty area with his foot in the air.
Had the player’s foot been on the ground, the penalty would certainly have been retaken, and had he been outside the area, the save would be deemed completely fair. His foot being airborne, yet inside the box, however, opens up a grey area.
The referee on the night believed that having the foot in the air did not warrant a retake, and saw Real Madrid lose their penalty.
However, there are strong grounds to claim that it should have been retaken as his foot being inside the box takes precedence over whether it was grounded or not.
Had the referee’s decision gone differently, one would have backed Mbappe to come good the second time and Real Madrid would have avoided the defeat.
Alvaro Valles deserves his flowers
For Real Madrid to create seven big chances, have 20 shots and an xG of 3.46, and yet not score is simply absurd. But it happened last night against Los Verdiblancos, and only one man stood in between Real Madrid and the scoresheet – Alvaro Valles.
The Real Betis goalkeeper delivered the performance of his lifetime as he stopped chance after chance and denied the visitors any sight of goal.
In 90 minutes, Valles made a staggering six saves, all of which came from inside the box, and prevented a direct xG of 2.98. In simpler terms, Real Madrid should have scored three goals past him with the quality of chances they had, but he directly stopped them all.
Further, Valles saved Mbappe’s penalty under the highest of pressure in a moment that was simply the crowning moment of his entire night.
On a different night, with a different goalkeeper, the outcome of the game could well have been very different.
Valles, however, deserves every bit of praise he is earning for his performance last night, and even Real Madrid fans have no option but to stand and applaud the shift he put in for ninety minutes.
