Real Madrid: 5 takeaways from Los Blancos’ brilliant 5-0 win at Shakhtar

Ferland Mendy made an instant impact upon return

I am just going to leave this tweet here:

Mendy’s return to the Real Madrid starting line-up was more important than most fans thought. It gave the team some much needed defensive stability, it allowed the creative midfielders to do their thing in the offense without having to worry about the defense. Vinicius Jr tracked back lesser than he used to when Mendy was on the sidelines, and it helped him in preserving energy for the attack. We all know how well that worked out.

It was a fantastic return game from Ferland Mendy who just proves once again that he is the best defensive full-back in the world. He didn’t even need a few games to settle in. He fits like a glove, which makes me think how good this Real Madrid side can be once Dani Carvajal and Eden Hazard attain full fitness. Keep in mind, we still haven’t seen Real at their best, with all their players being fit, so seeing them play under Carlo Ancelotti would certainly be a very interesting thing to watch. But, if this is as close as we get to it, then it’s pretty darn good.

Mendy had two tackles, seven presses, one clearance, one interception, and just a lot of good decision making in the defensive third, which made it very difficult for Shakhtar’s attackers to get anything done (which makes sense, considering their xG was 0.3, and Mendy had a big part to play in that regard).