Real Madrid: 3 takeaways from a 1-1 draw with Elche

Real Madrid dropped points on the road against Elche, breaking a streak of six straight victories.

Any Madridista who celebrated Barcelona dropping points to Eibar will have realized they rejoiced too soon. Real Madrid themselves dropped points in similar fashion to Elche on Wednesday night, drawing 1-1 after a penalty undid their excellent work in the first half.

Let’s take a look at three takeaways from the disappointing result.

Real Madrid showed their usual issues in attack.

While Los Blancos were excellent in the last six games and created more chances than usual, they were back to their old habits against Elche. Real were by far the better side in the first 45 minutes, using a high counter-press that forced Elche into their own half. But in the second 45, Elche made great adjustments, and Los Blancos did not find the counter.

Instead, Real Madrid regressed to their performances against the likes of Deportivo Alaves and Cadiz in La Liga this season. They were stagnant, did not navigate tight spaces well, and failed to locate Karim Benzema, easily their only real attacking threat, in good positions.

According to WhoScored.com, Toni Kroos, who was subbed out in the 77th minute for Fede Valverde, had three key passes. Nobody else on Real had multiple key passes. Chance-creation was a massive issue for Real Madrid, and that’s why they only put one past Elche. Yes, Edgar Badia played well, but Real should be creating a lot more “good” chances against a lower-table side.