A very Happy New Year to all the Madridistas! 2021 has officially ended and Real Madrid is sitting at the top of the table.
Speaking defensively, the 2021 season has been somewhat great. We have seen one of the strongest defenses in early 2021 when Real Madrid had one of the most experienced center backs in the form of Raphael Varane. Varane had a very successful career at Los Blancos and in his last 6 months at the club, the 29-year-old stepped up in the absence of Sergio Ramos and gave some top performances while pairing with Eder Militao and Nacho Fernandez who were the two unusual starters with Ramos in the team.
The Frenchman’s exit did have an impact on the defensive performances of the team and Real Madrid conceded some regular goals, but as the fixtures came up thick and fast, Eder Militao and David Alaba did start to pair well and so far Real Madrid has conceded just 17 goals in 20 games.
Now, I will be rating the best of Real Madrid’s defenders based on how well they performed for the club in this calendar year. Also, defenders like Jesus Vallejo, Miguel Gutierrez, and Marcelo are not included in this list due to a lack of minutes.
6. Dani Carvajal
He is one of the best right backs in the world at the moment, and yet I will rate him the least. Not because of his performances, he has been great. But because of his regular injuries contributes to his inconsistent performances.
The Spaniard is a great player with high quality but is too injury-prone. This season, Dani Carvajal has missed a total of 8 of 20 games for Real Madrid so far. His regular injuries make Real Madrid suffer a lot. Last season, Los Blancos did have a replacement for him in the form of Alvaro Odriozola, who put some promising displays in Carvajal’s absence. But this season the 26 year old was loaned out and Lucas Vazquez hasn’t turned out the way we expected him to.
Lucas Vazquez is doing a great job trying to fill in Carvajal’s shoes, but a right back is a natural at the position. So of course Carvajal’s absence impacts the game. Vazquez lacks the defensive awareness that a right back has, and it affects the team. Eder Militao often puts in a double shift to cover up for Carvajal. But he cannot do that forever and it is something a team like Paris Saint-Germain will look to exploit, just the way Chelsea did in the Semi-Final.
Even if Dani Carvajal returns anytime soon, he will definitely need 5-6 regular games to regain his form. I believe that once Dani Carvajal recovers, he can contribute a lot to Real Madrid. But the way this year has passed, I think that Carvajal has a lot to work on and thus deserves to be ranked last.