Real Madrid: The 5 best players from the first quarter of the 2020-21 season

LB Ferland Mendy

Although Real Madrid’s defense has been a disappointment this season and lies outside the top five in the league in goals allowed – whereas they were first in all of Europe’s top five leagues in 2019-2020 – Ferland Mendy has been just as impressive as Sergio Ramos this season from a defensive standpoint.

And like Ramos, Mendy has done well to support the attack.

Let’s look at the numbers. Mendy, a game-changing signing since joining the team in 2019 from Lyon, is second behind only Lionel Messi in La Liga with three dribbles completed per game – he has the same average in the Champions League. The French standout is also drawing two fouls per match in European football. He even has more key passes per game than Casemiro, Luka Jovic, and Isco in the league.

Pretty much everything about Mendy is impressive. He is the epitome of what Real Madrid need in the left back. Mendy is almost unbeatable defensively, he is smart positionally, he can bully wingers on the ball, and he has the skill and passing accuracy to support the attack.

It’s easy to overlook someone as consistent as Mendy, but there’s a positive to that, too. Whereas Real Madrid fans can point out Marcelo making a mistake defensively in every game he starts, Mendy’s defense goes by quietly unless you specifically want to notice him. Once again, the man is averaging fewer than 0.5 dribbles allowed per match in La Liga, which is just sensational for a fullback who averages 3.0 dribbles per game himself. He averages more than seven times the number of dribbles per game that he allows!