Ranking Real Madrid’s best defenders in 2021

2. David Alaba

David Alaba comes in second place. I guess everyone agrees that he has been the best LaLiga transfer of this season. He could be known as one of the best free-agent signings of all time.

When David Alaba signed for Los Blancos, like many, I too thought of this not being too good a signing. But the Austrian has proved me wrong and in a way that’s good news. The 29-year-old has settled in the Spanish Capital pretty quickly and has shown his quality in multiple games.

David Alaba might not be as dominant in the air as Raphael Varane or Eder Militao, but he possesses a better quality on the ground. The Austrian averages 0.9 tackles, 0.7 interceptions, and 2.7 clearances a game. Now the defensive statistics point towards Raphael Varane being better, but David Alaba offers an attacking threat that many center backs do not. David Alaba has so far scored 2 goals (of which 1 was a brace against Barcelona) and assisted 3 goals in a total of 24/26 games. He averages 0.7 key passes a game.

Another thing that makes me choose David Alaba over Raphael Varane is his versatility. Unlike Varane, Alaba can play at three different positions- left back, center back, and center defensive midfield.

What is attracting many Madridistas towards him is his attitude towards the game. The recent game against Alcoyano is a perfect example. It shows us how focused he is. In the 86 minutes that the Austrian played, we saw him give his 100%. David Alaba put in a great shift and showed the world his quality yet again.

All the Madridistas agree that David Alaba is very crucial for Real Madrid and his paramount importance must bring him enough recognition. In the end, we all should thank Bayern Munich for gifting us another gem (the first one of course being Toni Kroos, haha.)