Real Madrid: Five takeaways from April 2021

Another month without a loss. That doesn’t tell the full story from Real Madrid‘s perspective, as they frustratingly dropped points in La Liga to Getafe and Real Betis following an important 2-1 win over Barcelona in El Clasico. But nevertheless, despite injuries and fatigue, Los Blancos have avoided the worst possible result as they stay in contention for the La Liga and Champions League titles heading into May.

Let’s take a look at the five biggest takeaways from the month of April.

Antonio Blanco establishes himself

Antonio Blanco made his debut for Real Madrid against Getafe, recording three tackles and an interception in only 25 minutes off the bench, per WhoScored.com. And Los Blancos needed Blanco out there, too. Without him, Real may have fallen apart and even lost to Getafe, considering they had no real presence in midfield.

Blanco gave them that presence defensively. And in impressing off the bench, he earned a start in the following mid-week match at Cadiz.

Now, Blanco is someone Zinedine Zidane can trust in midfield. We knew there would be opportunities for him after Martin Odegaard pushed for a loan to Arsenal. It took Blanco some time to get his chance, but he isn’t looking back. Blanco completed over 90 percent of his passes in both clean sheets. Look for him to make some starts in May, perhaps as early as Saturday against Osasuna.