3 reasons why Real Madrid aren’t recording as many clean sheets this season
Real Madrid’s individual errors and tendency to gift penalties
A football match lasts for 90 minutes and it’s important for every player to maintain focus throughout the game. One moment of a lapse of concentration can result in something catastrophic. And Real Madrid players have committed a lot of individual errors, due to these lapses of concentration have proven to be very costly throughout the season.
Defenders have to make life difficult for attackers and make them find the toughest way to score past them. Though there are moments where Real Madrid conceded goals due to moments of individual brilliance from the opponents, there have been many instances where individual errors from the players made the job easier for attackers.
Varane’s failed clearance that resulted in an own goal against Valencia, Vinicius Junior letting go of the Alcoyano player he had to mark who went to score a goal, Courtois’ terrible pass to Lucas Perez against Alaves, Vazquez’s misplaced pass in the Supercopa Semi-final vs. Bilbao, each of these individual errors led to a goal in important games which we lost and there are many more such moments where the players lost their focus. The form of a few players was concerning as well, especially Varane’s form. The Frenchman had been inconsistent this season and had committed a lot of mistakes since that eventful night at the Etihad.
Another point of note is our tendency to give away cheap penalties. Real Madrid conceded just two penalties in the whole of 2019/20, but they’ve already conceded seven this season in LaLiga itself. The team set-up a record in the process, by conceding three penalties in a single game against Valencia. Most of these penalties have been awarded due to silly errors made by defenders, that too in the penalty area where every player must be wary of their surroundings.
Most of these penalties were easily avoidable, which includes Ramos’ handball vs Valencia, Vazquez’s handball vs. Valencia, and Carvajal’s foul vs Elche. Courtois has been able to save just one of these seven penalties in the league, but he couldn’t be blamed when the team have thrown away leads and clean sheets due to some needless penalties gifted to the opposition.