There is no doubt that this Real Madrid team is playing significantly below their expected standards despite the world-class talent present in their ranks.
The team’s results have been particularly disorienting in the UEFA Champions League, where they have won only 2 of their 5 games in the League Phase, and at the end of the last matchday stood at the very last position eligible for advancement to the Round of 16 after playing a play-off game.
Their form was significantly better in La Liga, but in that competition too, they fell to a defeat against Athletic Club on Wednesday and thus gave away their opportunity to go atop the league table by winning the two games that they had in hand.
In total, the merengues have already lost 5 games this season, which is a far cry from their record of tasting only one defeat in the last season.
Furthermore, all of these 5 defeats have come at the hands of teams that play high-pressing football, revealing one of the main weaknesses of Carlo Ancelotti’s team this season. Up to now, Lille, AC Milan, and Liverpool have defeated Los Blancos in the UCL, while FC Barcelona and Athletic Club have handed them losses in La Liga.
Real Madrid’s performance in the last match against Athletic Club particularly put this problem on display, as the Merengues struggled to even get the ball out of their half, despite having a significantly better squad than their opponents on the night.
This was mainly because of the high pressure put on them by the Basque lions, as despite having a majority of possession, 63%, Los Blancos were forced to keep the ball rotating in their own half, and even Thibaut Courtois got 63 touches on the ball.
Despite enjoying a clear majority of possession, Real Madrid had very similar attacking statistics to those of Athletic Club, as both sides had 3 big chances. The Merengues had 10 total shots to Athletic Club’s 9, and the Merengues xG on the night was 1.82 to Athletic Club’s 1.81. Similarly, the Basque side had 5 corners while the Spanish champions only got 2 on the night.
Similarly, as can be seen from the concentration of play charts published by Sofascore, Real Madrid remained pinned to their own half, to their left flank in particular, even when they had the ball, and the Athletic Club side was the least played-upon area on the pitch, irrespective of which team had the ball.
Similarly, 37% of the passes made in the game by both sides were made in Real Madrid’s third, 39% of them in the middle, and only 24% in made in Athletic Club’s third. Thus, providing further evidence of the Merengues’ ability to get the ball out of their half effectively when faced with a well-drilled and disciplined press.
This is certainly an area that Carlo Ancelotti will have to work on, and with their UCL hopes hinging on getting a win against Atalanta, another side that presses quite high, the Italian does not have a lot of time to minimize this weakness of his Real Madrid team.
