Real Madrid: 5 burning questions from a 0-0 draw with Getafe

How was Antonio Blanco’s debut?

Zinedine Zidane realized that he needed to make a change in the second half and add a real midfielder, otherwise Getafe would surely break through and hand Real Madrid a 1-0 defeat, similar to the loss they suffered in October 2019 at Mallorca.

So he decided to bring in Antonio Blanco for his debut. A highly promising midfield prospect, Blanco has impressed at Castilla and has been waiting months for his debut. An opportunity seemingly opened when Real Madrid loaned Martin Odegaard to Arsenal, but Blanco had yet to receive his chance.

He got about 30 minutes of playing time against Getafe in the second half and helped see off a clean sheet. It was a very encouraging performance from Blanco, who was one of the few non-defenders to merit praise for his work in that dreary draw at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.

According to WhoScored.com, the 20-year-old led Real Madrid with three tackles despite only playing about one-third of the match, and he had an additional interception. You’d imagine that Real’s defensive solidity and overall chances at three points would have increased significantly had Blanco played the full 90.

Hopefully, we get to see more of the young midfielder as we head into the 2021-2022 season. The “finals” coming up mean that Blanco’s opportunities will be pretty much non-existent, but he is a player to invest minutes in next season.