Real Madrid: Why the wings are such a problem spot

Real Madrid have struggled to score goals in the last three seasons, as the attack has floundered without Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite Karim Benzema’s unmitigated brilliance, Los Blancos have one of the weakest attacks of any top club in European football, and this very weakness was exposed badly by Chelsea in the Champions League semifinals.

Benzema scored 30 goals in all competitions last season and has found the back of the net at least 21 times in each of the past three seasons without Ronaldo. Striker is not an issue for Real. But BOTH wing positions are currently far from settled despite a large number of seemingly competent wingers.

First, we must come to the team-building issue before discussing the prevailing tactical issue that has led Real Madrid to struggle on the wings. The decline of Gareth Bale and Florentino Perez’s ill-advised decision not to sell the right winger at his peak value have created a crater of a hole at this position. As for the left wing, Eden Hazard was supposed to be the new No. 7 leading the “revolution” of summer 2019 signings, but his constant bouts with injuries have prevented him from being a player Real can rely on in any fashion.

Bale and Hazard were the Galacticos who would start every game and help the less experienced players be eased along as they learned the ropes. Instead, they’ve had to be burdened by the responsibilities of being starting attackers at Real Madrid or forced to play a position that isn’t 100 percent suited to them (the Asensio case).

So now we come to the younger group of players behind them. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes both have serious potential, while Marco Asensio was once a very valuable player for Real Madrid.

Real Madrid wingers have a lot on their plate

Out of those three players, only Rodrygo was remotely good throughout the 2020-2021 season, though his campaign was ultimately derailed by a December injury. Vinicius and Asensio had their moments and hot streaks, but they failed to consistently deliver for Real Madrid.

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Los Blancos had only one winger with at least 0.25 goals per 90 minutes in all competitions, and that man was Eden Hazard, who did not even reach 900 minutes. Rodrygo was the only winger with more than 0.20 assists per 90 (Hazard had exactly 0.20), and he started in just 13 matches to Hazard’s 11.

A huge reason for this lack of production is the high demands placed on wingers who play for Real Madrid. Their 4-3-3 is set up so that the goal-scoring burden at Madrid – a team with a historical expectation of having a high-flying, exciting offense – mostly falls on them. They cut inside and win one-on-ones against center backs and fullbacks, while the fullbacks aggressively push up the pitch to provide the width.

LaLiga was the most defensive league in Europe’s top five last season with just 1.21 goals per 90 per team. And Real Madrid are more likely to face teams that sit back against them to absorb pressure and really force the issue on their players to win with individual skill.

What makes this even more difficult for Madrid is that LaLiga defenses KNOW how to play them and are so compact. So not only do the wingers have multiple players they must beat off the dribble, but they don’t have easy shooting angles or much space to execute passes into the box to a striker whose main role is actually to create for the wingers.

Each of the Real Madrid wingers is good at either winning one-on-ones or scoring, but not both. Vinicius is a one-on-one maestro but struggles to finish. Asensio is a great shooter but cannot speed by defenders. Rodrygo has the talent to do both, but he does not get to play enough in his favored position to develop the confidence and consistency to fulfill this task.

Think about all the wingers in world football and even in Real Madrid’s history who can score goals and create their own opportunities. The list is filled with the most expensive investments imaginable. Hazard and Bale were on that list in their primes, but the reality is that they can no longer be counted on to win one-on-ones time after time due to their injury histories.

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You can see why Real Madrid are so hell-bent on Kylian Mbappe. He is one of the precious few players in the world who can score 30 goals from a wide forward position and make things happen out of nothing. So few players can do both, and with the expectations and set-up at Madrid, they are finding that either an Mbappe or a completely different, creative approach must be taken in 2021-2022 in order for this attack to finally get somewhere again.

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