Zidane’s Real Madrid looking like Benitez’s Madrid

Defensive Woes

One of the biggest reasons for the sacking of Rafa Benitez was the shaky defensive performance of the team under his watch.

They were tentative every-time the ball moved past the half-way line or was crossed into the box. They conceded the maximum headed goals in that period (7).

Now, don’t go looking at the clean sheet records because statistics do lie sometimes. The reason for those clean sheets was Keylor Navas, who was in the form of his life that season. He was arguably the best player for Madrid in that period, with his cat-like agility and reflexes.

So much so that he earned the nick-name of ‘Keylor Paras’, translating to Keylor Saves / Keylor Stops, from his teammates. Had he not made those saves, Benitez would have been sacked sooner.

Unfortunately for Zidane though, Keylor’s form has been turbulent this season, which has exposed Madrid’s shaky defense. Not only is he not making those other-worldly saves, he is making far more basic errors.

Madrid’s poor business in the transfer market and a bunch of injuries to the back-line have led to a nervy defense which is leaking goals.

The statistics don’t lie in this case.

In 15 matches this season, Real Madrid have conceded 11 goals. The majority of these have come through open-play. They have only been able to keep 5 clean sheets.

Dani Carvajal has been turned and Marcelo has been caught out of position a few times already. Pepe and Danilo were replaced with Theo Hernandez and Jesus Vallejo, who are promising but will take time to mature. Ramos and Varane haven’t inspired the kind of confidence that Madrid’s center-backs are required to.