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Three talking points ahead of Schalke vs Real Madrid
Just over a week remains for Real Madrid’s first official game of the new season and they will take on Espanyol in their La Liga curtain-raiser.
Ahead of that big clash, however, the club do have one final pre-season friendly scheduled for tomorrow evening, and it will be against FC Schalke.
The past week has been a critical one for Jose Mourinho and Co. as they finally welcomed back the World Cup heroes and completed their squad for the new season.
With Real Madrid’s transfer window also likely done, the manager now has a full-strength dressing room at his disposal and the game against Schalke will be the first of a new era in that sense.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Schalke vs Real Madrid.
The big names return
Real Madrid’s pre-season campaign so far has revolved around academy players, non-internationals and internationals who returned home early after suffering heartbreak at the FIFA World Cup.
While some names like Federico Valverde, Arda Guler and Denzel Dumfries have been available from relatively early in Mourinho’s dynamics, the bulk of the team’s core arrived much later.
Vinicius Jr. and Endrick returned for Real Madrid’s latest friendlies, but other big names including Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham have come back only in recent days.
The duo who made it to the World Cup semifinals returned to training earlier this week, and are in the squad for Real Madrid’s clash against Schalke tomorrow.
All signs point to Mbappe playing some part in Gelsenkirchen in what comes as a massive boost for Mourinho’s plans. After all, the Frenchman is the centrepiece in attack and the team is, quite clearly, built around him.
Also expected to feature is Bellingham. Despite uncertainty over his participation in recent days, word has it that the player is in top physical condition and will indeed be able to slot back in as a starting midfield option for Mourinho.
A debut for Diomande
Yan Diomande arrived in Madrid as a new signing ahead of Real Madrid’s friendly against Ferencvaros, but did not make it to the squad for that clash owing to a lack of match fitness. He was also not called up for the subsequent game vs Deportivo La Coruna.
In under a week, however, the player has returned to speed and is now seen to be prepared to put on a Real Madrid shirt for the first time in a game. Needless to say, it will be a momentous occasion.
Diomande’s big-money move this summer made him Real Madrid’s most expensive signing in history, and such a price tag undoubtedly arrives with a certain scale of expectations and a lot of pressure.
The young winger is already said to be impressing in training, and all signs point to him starting against Schalke in the club’s final pre-season friendly. Needless to say, he will be eager to showcase some of his talent before the high-stakes games arrive.
More importantly, it will be interesting to see Diomande’s chemistry with the likes of Mbappe, Bellingham and others, for that could well dictate how the player’s first season at the club will progress.
The new-look defence completed
Real Madrid’s summer transfer window largely revolved around defensive signings, and it has been clear from day one that Jose Mourinho’s focus was on the backline.
The club went all-out in making signings for the defence, bringing in Ibrahima Konate, Denzel Dumfries and Marc Cucurella to Valdebebas in a matter of weeks.
So far, only the Dutch star has made his debut for Real Madrid and has already impressed with his quality and defensive resilience. Konate and Cucurella, however, are yet to make their debuts.
Having returned to the club’s pre-season camp earlier this week, both stars have been called up for the friendly tomorrow and are very likely to receive their debuts in the team’s final pre-season clash.
It will thus be a momentous occasion for both Konate and Cucurella. The former will look to convince the manager of his quality and stake a claim for a starting spot while the latter will look to prove why he is a deserved World Champion and starter for Real Madrid.
At some point in the game, it is very likely that Dumfries, Konate and Cucurella share the field at the back and that Real Madrid see an almost completely new defensive line fielded under the new manager.
Five games into the new season, Real Madrid are firmly placed second in the La Liga standings with 12 points to their name. Only Barcelona with a perfect 15 sit ahead of them.
The one game Los Blancos dropped points in was against Real Betis, and they went on to turn the tables in their very next game against Rayo Vallecano with a 4-1 win at the weekend.
One cannot help but notice, however, that the team have struggled in both their away games so far this season – first a 2-1 win over Espanyol at the death and then a 1-0 defeat to Real Betis.
Tomorrow, they take on Elche in their third away game of the season, and there will be serious pressure on them to get a convincing result and do away with the away myths.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Elche vs Real Madrid.
Arda Guler deserves the start
Real Madrid’s performances this season have not always been the most convincing, but they manage to find a way to come out on top. The game against Rayo Vallecano was more of the same.
Los Blancos did well in the first half to drag away with the momentum, but they suffered after the break as the visitors began pressing and creating chances. Out of fatigue, Real Madrid struggled to keep up.
Everything changed, however, after Arda Guler was introduced off the bench. Replacing Yan Diomande, the young Turk took matters into his own hands and began creating chance after chance for Real Madrid.
All of a sudden, Los Blancos began controlling the game better than before and overtook the opposition’s dominance, making the final phase of the game easy.
Over all of the team’s games so far, Real Madrid have performed significantly better with Guler on the field. While he has played primarily on the right wing, there is also a growing sense of understanding that he could be the Kroos and Modric replacement the club needs.
In any case, the player has merited a starting spot in the team at this point, and he must be in the XI tomorrow night, likely replacing Diomande on the flank once more.
Mbappe’s away scoring record
Kylian Mbappe has been one of, if not the most important attacking assets for Real Madrid so far this season. He won the Pichichi award last season and is even one of the favourites for the Ballon d’Or.
There is, however, a surprising fact about the player’s goalscoring form that has gone under the radar. It is, needless to say a shocking one and has to do with his form scoring goals away from home.
As matters stand, Mbappe’s last goal away from home in La Liga came back in early February this year. It was at Mestalla against Valencia, and the player has not scored on the road in the league ever since.
After that game, Real Madrid played away against Osasuna, Mallorca, Real Betis and Sevilla and the forward did not find the back of the net on any occasion. Even in Europe, he only scored once away against Bayern Munich.
This season, the team have already played against Espanyol and Real Betis, and Mbappe did not score on either night. Notably, he has scored in all four home games in the meantime.
Having not scored away from home in La Liga for over six months, Mbappe will be keen to turn that record around tomorrow.
Preparing for the big test
The first massive domestic test for Real Madrid is set to take place this weekend when Los Blancos lock horns with local rivals Atletico Madrid in the season’s first Madrid derby.
In that sense, the clash tomorrow against Elche will be the team’s final match practice before the derby and becomes all the more important in terms of gauging the team’s preparation.
At this point in the season, Mourinho does not have a whole lot figured out in terms of his preferred ‘big game XI’ barring the usual suspects in Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham.
The midfield and defence, in particular, remain a grey area in terms of the manager’s pecking order and tomorrow’s game may serve as an early audition for the first big domestic game of the season.
Dean Huijsen, Ibrahima Konate and Antonio Rudiger have all featured as starting centre-backs for Real Madrid so far, and the situation at full-back is not very different.
Denzel Dumfries and Trent Alexander-Arnold have both enjoyed starts at right-back while Marc Cucurella and Alvaro Carreras both have the manager’s trust at left-back.
Similarly, there is a battle in midfield for a starting spot in the double pivot between Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, Bernardo Silva and Eduardo Camavinga.
Deciding which of the players are higher up on the pecking order, thus, is crucial ahead of the derby and that decision may well be based on tomorrow’s performances.
