Following Real Madrid‘s shocking 2-1 loss to Sheriff on Tuesday night in the Champions League, Los Blancos finished up all six of their September 2021 fixtures. They started the month hot with a comeback win over Celta Vigo, two tough victories against Inter Milan and Valencia, and a six-goal festival against Mallorca. But they have since slid, dropping points to Villarreal and falling on the wrong end of yet another Champions League upset.
Despite the sour end to September, there were more positives than negatives from the individual players last month. Still, you get the feeling that Carlo Ancelotti hasn’t quite figured out the optimal way to construct this side so that they can maintain consistency in both defense and attack.
Here are the average player ratings for Real Madrid’s players from the month of September, starting with the heroic figure in goal, Thibaut Courtois.
GK Thibaut Courtois
The Belgian shot-stopper had a very strong month of September, though he is consistently a bright spot for Real Madrid. He was at his very best against Inter Milan, making top save after top save, showing reflexes that would make a prime Manuel Neuer proud. Courtois can be thanked for both that win and the draw against Villarreal, as Real easily could have lost both matches without his efforts in goal.
There’s a reason why Madridistas feel 100 percent secure when this man is in goal. He has even become more comfortable on the ball.
Rating: 7.5
LB Miguel Gutierrez
Miguel Gutierrez only got two starts for Real Madrid this past month, as Carlo Ancelotti seemed to favor Nacho Fernandez at left back – even when he didn’t start Eden Hazard on the right side in a “free role” to unbalance the attack.
Although Miguel was not at his best against Sheriff, it’s clear that the team attacks better when the young Spaniard is in the lineup. He has “class” written all over him, and, quite frankly, it is laughable that Ancelotti even seems to doubt this young man. Maybe he needs to look long and hard at his own defensive tactics instead of playing hot potato with a young star’s confidence.
Rating: 6.0
LB/RB Nacho Fernandez
I am going to lose my mind if I see Carlo Ancelotti start Nacho as a fullback again. Look, he is capable of playing well at this position in a specific setup where he is highly defensive and can just focus on one-on-one tackling, which was the case against Inter Milan. But my goodness, you can tell this guy is the weak link in the defense when opponents just keep attacking him over and over again. Don’t get me started on his terrible decision-making when he presses up the pitch and gets left for dead. If you aren’t fast, don’t take those kinds of risks!
Nacho had a great season in 2020-2021 at center back. He’s been good at times this season, too. But in Real Madrid’s worst matches, he is the worst player on the pitch. That was the case this past weekend vs. Villarreal, and he was the prime suspect once again in the embarrassment against Sheriff.
Rating: 5.0
CB David Alaba
Other than the one bad game against Sheriff, David Alaba was consistently playing at a high level for Real Madrid in September. We can honestly chalk that performance up as an outlier, because he has been such a rock for Real in the other matches. Alaba adds a lot to Madrid with his passing. He is also already a leader at the back, which Los Blancos badly needed after losing Sergio Ramos.
Rating: 7.5
CB Eder Militao
Eder Militao also had a fantastic month for Real Madrid. I know the team had some defensive issues, but Militao and Alaba were honestly the reasons why Real did not surrender more goals than they did. The Villarreal and Inter matches come to mind here. Speaking of Villarreal, Militao was so crisp in that match. He did not put a foot wrong, and he is quickly becoming a reliable, clean-up defender whenever Real have a potential mess on their hands.
Rating: 7.0
RB/RW Lucas Vazquez
There’s not much to say about Lucas Vazquez. This wasn’t his month. Let’s just hope he can return to the form he showed at right back last season whenever Dani Carvajal is out.
Rating: 4.5
DM Casemiro
What a horrible, horrible month for Casemiro. I cannot remember a time when I thought Casemiro played this poorly across an entire month of action. Aside from a truly standout performance against Inter in the Champions League, the usually excellent defensive midfielder has been quite poor. Since that win at the San Siro, Casemiro has been outright atrocious, and I don’t even think an out-of-position Nacho has been as bad.
Part of these struggles are on fatigue, part of them are on the system placing him out of position, and part of them are on the player himself for being careless on the ball. That’s always been an issue for Case, but Ancelotti’s setup has magnified his weaknesses and hidden his strengths. For as much as I have praised Carlo, this is an example of where he has set Real Madrid backward.
Rating: 4.5
CM Fede Valverde
That was a decent month from Fede Valverde. We’ll ignore his dismal performance at right back, because he should have never started there in the first place. With Valverde, you can always count on a lot of running, both in terms of defensive ball recoveries and in terms of transitioning attacks into the final third. I don’t want to go overboard in praising Valverde, because he still needs to influence the game more in the final third if he wants to be known as a true star in world football.
Rating: 6.0
CM Eduardo Camavinga
Eduardo Camavinga is already an important player to Real Madrid. He had a dream debut with a goal off the bench in the win over Celta Vigo and was just as instrumental in turning the match against Inter Milan, assisting the winning goal for Rodrygo Goes. Recent performances against Villarreal and Sheriff, though, have shown he still has work to do before he can become a regular starter here. But we already knew that.
Rating: 7.0
CM Luka Modric
An average month for Luka Modric, which is not a statement I am used to typing out. Like Casemiro, Modric is a member of the old guard who has both been negatively affected by mounting fatigue and by Toni Kroos’ absence. With Kroos back, Modric should have a big upswing in form in October back to his usual standard. He wasn’t bad by any means in September. He was just…well…quiet.
Rating: 6.0
AM Marco Asensio
A final rating goes to Carlo Ancelotti’s newest No. 10, Marco Asensio. He gets a high rating buoyed by a near-perfect day against Mallorca, but it is dragged down by a considerably worse performance over the last LaLiga weekend against Villarreal.
It’s the same story as usual for Asensio. Against good teams, he is a passenger. The tactical setup and opponent in the hat-trick fixture were more favorable, and it is clear that Asensio is a volatile, scheme-dependent rotation player. Meaning, he’s the kind of guy whose value you boost against the right opponents and sell off to some over-eager Premier League club in 2022.
Rating: 7.5
FREE Eden Hazard
Though Eden Hazard only picked up two starts, he certainly made an impression in both matches in a “free” role, where he unselfishly created for his teammates. Because Hazard is in a new type of role, as compared to his more active one at Chelsea in his prime, he isn’t going to be the one scoring or assisting often. Maybe that will change as the season continues, but, right now, he is more of a linking piece. Therefore, you will hear the unintelligent engagement-grifters of Twitter dot com yell about how he is finished and rattle off bogus stats. Pay them no attention, though.
Hazard was one of the bright spots in the loss to Sheriff. He had six key passes against Valencia. Right now, this is the best Hazard has looked since the Fall of 2019, and, for the first time since then, I think Madridistas can have optimism about what he’s shown on the pitch.
Rating: 7.5
LW Vinicius Junior
Although Vinicius Junior was strangely quiet against Villarreal and Juan Foyth, of all players, the month of September was another positive one for August’s Player of the Month. Vinicius was one of the two matchwinners against Valencia, joining Karim Benzema with a late goal and assist in the late comeback at the Mestalla.
Then, Vini was the star man against Mallorca, even if Marco Asensio stole the headlines by being on the end of the moves with three goals.
Vinicius means everything to Real Madrid. How far the club goes this season can be partially determined by Vini, though, of course, the root determination will be made by Ancelotti’s adaptability and self-awareness.
Rating: 7.5
RW Rodrygo Goes
Rodrygo Goes did not do much right against Villarreal, but he was put in a bind since Carlo Ancelotti played Fede Valverde at right back. Not much happened on that flank for Los Blancos.
Better evaluation points for Rodrygo actually lie in his bench performances, including the game-winner against Inter Milan. There was also a solid performance in the XI against Mallorca, as he combined well with Vinicius Junior, Karim Benzema, and Marco Asensio in a free-flowing attack that led to six goals.
Opportunities won’t be easy to come by, but Rodrygo usually makes the most of them.
Rating: 7.0
CF Karim Benzema
We end the list with LaLiga’s MVP of the season thus far. Karim Benzema had another strong month for Real Madrid, and although he had two more average performances against Villarreal and Inter Milan when the team struggled to progress the ball and create, he was one of the few attackers who wasn’t outright bad in either of those matches.
Benzema is pretty much automatic in front of goal, even scoring against Sheriff in a game in which not much seemed to go right for Real Madrid. He was brilliant against Mallorca and Valencia, of course, with that bit of back-control against the recently-promoted LaLiga side standing out as one of the highlights of the league season for Los Blancos thus far.
Rating: 7.5