Real Madrid have been on a roll lately. They’ve won all their games since the 3-3 draw at Levante, and have scored many goals in the process. I’ll be honest, I don’t even remember the last time Real scored six in just one game. I know it’s not exactly the toughest opponent the team could’ve faced, but Mallorca is dangerous on the breaks as we saw at times, and nullifying them was the biggest thing Real Madrid’s defence had to do on Wednesday night, and they managed to do it, although with a couple of hurdles.
On the other end, they were absolutely fantastic, scoring with such ease. It has been a while since we’ve seen this from Real, because if you think about it, Los Blancos faced “lowly” oppositions under Zinedine Zidane too, and yet they never used to just run riot like this.
More of this from Real Madrid and they truly have a big shot at winning the league title this year. It’s still premature, so I won’t say too much, but I like what I’m seeing from Real, even though it still could use some polishing and some improvement. I’m sure at least some of that will happen gradually, but it’s the remaining part that concerns me a little bit for the long run.
Anyway, here are the takeaways from Real Madrid’s 6-1 thumping of Mallorca in their second game at the Bernabeu this season.
Real Madrid’s attack was as fluid as ever vs Mallorca
There was something about this game that caught my attention. I mean, there were many things that were pleasing to see, but Los Blancos executed the offense in a way that I haven’t quite seen so far this season. Well, if I have, it hasn’t been this smooth.
The front four of Vinicius Jr, Marco Asensio, Rodrygo and Karim Benzema was a treat to my eyes. It was so good to see. Off ball movement, great passing sequences, switching from one flank to another, helping the other teammate get open, and doing all of this so effortlessly and smoothly was something I was waiting for.
The team’s width was perfect. It wasn’t too far wide, it wasn’t too narrow, and whenever it was, there was a reason to it. I saw a lot of position switches throughout the game, which made things all the more difficult for Mallorca.
Karim Benzema is going to do Karim Benzema stuff, there’s no question about that. Two goals and two assists and he also was the main man behind most of the sequences. He was everywhere, and was involved in damn near every play.
Rodrygo did a fantastic job as well, and his performance just gave Carlo Ancelotti another headache as to who to start in the attack alongside Vinicius and Benzema. Will it be Eden Hazard, or would it be the impact sub Rodrygo, or would it be Gareth Bale when he comes back? We’ll see.
Marco Asensio may have found his perfect role
Marco Asensio had a fantastic game vs Mallorca on Wednesday. I haven’t said the first six words of that sentence in that order in a very, very long time. It does feel good to see, because it seems like Ancelotti has finally figured out what kind of role and position he wants Asensio to play whenever he’s on the pitch.
Ancelotti said in a press conference from earlier this season that he’s trying to convert Marco Asensio into a central midfielder. It kind of made sense, but it also kind of didn’t, since we know there are certain aspects of a central midfielder’s game that Asensio struggles in. For example, he’s not a great defender, he doesn’t track back all that often. When he does, his stamina lets him down, and his output decreases on both ends of the pitch.
Against Mallorca, he put Asensio in front of the double pivot of Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde, and gave him a lot of attacking privileges. He didn’t have to track back all that often as he already had two players doing the defensive work. Since Asensio wasn’t on the wings, he didn’t need a lot of pace to get past opponents. He did very well in the role that he was given, and scored three goals in a memorable performance.
The only downside is that this system won’t really be used all that often, but if and when it is used, Asensio has proved that it is perfect for him. A few more of these games and it’ll force Ancelotti to think whether he needs to tinker with the system to incorporate Asensio into the lineup, or change the system in the second half and have him come on as an impact sub. Great game.
Camavinga and Fede were good, but the team surely missed Casemiro
Alright, look, I said it in my player ratings and I’ll say it again: Camavinga had a solid game against Mallorca. He defended well, stayed deep to support the defense and generally dealt well with any danger that came his way. He was very tidy in possession, and played like someone who’s been at the club for a very long time.
But I wouldn’t say he did all the things Casemiro does. That’s because he simply isn’t the same player as Casemiro. His game is more focused on control, passing and intelligent positional play than it is on brute force and high defensive IQ.
There weren’t many moments throughout the game which had me close to getting up and shouting at the players because they did something wrong, but there were a few moments that made me think how it would be like if Casemiro was in this situation, or how his absence can be capitalized on in future games.
There was a visible gap between the midfield and the defense, and that’s where Casemiro usually does his routine Casemiro stuff. His absence allowed Kang-in Lee to make so many runs into the attacking third, and sometimes into the box, without anyone stopping him before. This sometimes forces the central defenders to push forward and try to win the ball (to be honest, they do that even when Casemiro’s on the pitch) and that leaves gaps in the defense.
Here’s the tough part now. Casemiro had a terrible game against a Valencia side that pressed a lot. What happens when some other team with higher quality plays against Real? Do they risk not playing Casemiro to have more control and press resistance? Or, do they go with the gamble and defend better with Casemiro on the pitch. Or, do they combine the two? That’s something Ancelotti will have to figure out when the time comes.
All in all, though, great game from Real Madrid. They got the job done with ease, and they didn’t have to rely on an awesome second-half performance to do it. They had an awesome game from start to finish.