Real Madrid suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in the history of El Clasico this past Sunday night at the Santiago Bernabeu.
That might seem like a hyperbolic statement, but think about what we saw unfold before our eyes in this match.
Real Madrid were the league leaders coming into the match at home, and they had just defeated Real Sociedad 4-1, PSG 3-1, and Mallorca 3-0. Their manager Carlo Ancelotti fielded a lineup with no tactical plan, and without Thibaut Courtois’ big saves and a few even bigger misses from Barcelona, Real could have lost to a team that was not even in the title picture by a scoreline double that of 4-0.
Totally unacceptable.
Here are five burning questions for Real Madrid in the aftermath of this dreadful defeat.
How can Real Madrid not sign a right back?
By now, many of you have seen past transfer rumors that Real Madrid will not sign a right back this summer. Surely, that stance has to change from above, especially after watching how easily Dani Carvajal was torched by Ferran Torres at the Bernabeu.
It is one thing to get roasted by Kylian Mbappe, who is the best player in the world and whom pretty much nobody can hold up against. But it is another thing to get roundly embarrassed positionally by Torres, who is very good but not yet world-class, and then also make a series of critical giveaways.
Carvajal has been incredibly mistake-prone, inconsistent, and, of course, injury-prone this season. His attacking influence has also waned significantly, to the point where it seems like the consensus among Madrididstas is that Lucas Vazquez is a better option in the starting XI than Carvajal.
My goodness how far the once-great have fallen.
Vazquez is a good squad player, but we cannot pretend like he is any sort of a solution at right back. And neither is Alvaro Odriozola, whose minor attacking hype at Fiorentina belies the fact that his defensive weaknesses remain and would be exposed even moreso at a club with a higher standard like Real Madrid (no disrespect to the Viola, but, I mean, c’mon, levels and all).
Real Madrid need a right back. They NEED a right back, all caps.
Why does Carlo Ancelotti hate Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic?
OK, I don’t actually know if Carlo Ancelotti hates these two players, or if he hates Gareth Bale, too, and that’s why he wasn’t in the squad at all for this match.
But I am baffled that Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic continue to play no sort of role for Real Madrid, even when they could make an impact off the bench.
In the case of Jovic, he really should have been starting. Even Hazard would have been a better option as a false nine than Luka Modric. There is no doubt that Modric is a world-class player who should start just about every match he can, but a false nine? Why did Carlo Ancelotti choose this experiment in El Clasico? Did he really think this would work?
Jovic was great against Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid the last time he got chances when Karim Benzema was injured. I am not going to pretend like he and Hazard are world-beaters or have shown any sort of consistency this season, but you cannot tell me that they offer zero to this team. They do offer something.
There is no doubt that Jovic is the best backup striker in the squad to Benzema. He is better than these failed false nine experiments and absolutely better than Mariano. We can debate about fit and whatever or babble uselessly about “pressing” (as if Real Madrid are ever good at pressing anyway), or we can state the truth. Jovic is a better striker than Mariano and a better fit up top than Modric or Isco.
Why he is phased out in this way is beyond me, but it also seems quite disrespectful. It is not as if either Jovic or Hazard behave unprofessionally, though they would have every right to display public discontent at being cast aside to rot on the bench.
What on earth was this tactical setup?
If you went to Google during the match to look up the formation for the match, you would have noticed that even they had no idea what Carlo Ancelotti was trying to achieve here. The Real Madrid formation was listed as a 4-2-4-0 at one point, which, you know, does not exist. Zero attacking players? That’s basically what it felt like watching this team, though.
Vinicius Jr. was the only real attacking outlet, and he was isolated on the left side of the pitch. Luka Modric was miscast as a false nine, confusing the entire team. Modric would often have to drop deep to help defensively and try to provide some sort of ball circulation and progression, which would leave the middle of the attack vacated. And Vini further isolated.
The right side was an even bigger disaster. Dani Carvajal did nothing, and Rodrygo Goes was hopeless in this role. Really, only Fede Valverde provided any sort of attacking verve with his usual energetic runs, creating three or four chances all on the strength of his own running and effort.
Defensively, Real Madrid were so disorganized that I could hardly believe a professional manager devised this gameplan. If Carlo Ancelotti did any pre-match preparation at all…because the reality is that he was shown levels by Xavi, who had Barcelona in shape and tactically superior to their Madrid counterparts.
Real were cycling through players defensively with no shape, no plan, and an exposed Thibaut Courtois left to stand tall against clear-cut chance after clear-cut chance. You could see the normally assured center backs flustered, especially Eder Militao. They were left hung out to dry by a manager who decided to produce an amateur performance on the biggest stage in club football.
How can Carlo Ancelotti survive after this season?
And that leads me to ask the final question, the most pressing question that Madridistas are discussing. There seems to be nobody left to defend Carlo Ancelotti, other than the fans of mediocre clubs like Arsenal that pretend to be Real Madrid fans on the side. You know, the people who say that Madridistas are being “too mean” or “too reactionary” because they find it unacceptable to lose 4-0 to their most historic, most despised rivals on their own turf.
Carlo Ancelotti is the main man to blame. He was the main man to blame for the awful performance against PSG. For the awful performance against Elche. For the awful performance against Athletic Club. For disaster after disaster that he has survived, this is the one he cannot survive. Because Florentino Perez is like us. He is a Madridista who does not accept a 4-0 loss to Barcelona. A loss that might as well have been 10-0 and could have been 8-0, based on the way the game went.
We clowned Barcelona fans for their whole “pride in defeat” thing, but there’s a reason why the mood in Barcelona was jubilant after their narrow 3-2 loss to Real Madrid in the Suercopa. Clasicos tell you how things are really trending, and Barcelona were indeed trending in the right direction. Since losing their cup games, they are undefeated. And now, they embarrassed Real in the most vengeful way possible, atoning for five consecutive Clasico defeats.
Real Madrid can rebound from this, easily. But like Barcelona, they cannot rebound with complacency. They must make major changes. Joan Laporta did. What will be Perez’s next move? Firing Ancelotti during the season isn’t going to happen. And getting rid of him after the season is just obvious. He cannot survive this. He was exposed for the world to see as a once-great manager who is no longer at the Real Madrid level.
The real question is, what else will Real do to respond? The transfer market beckons…and Kylian Mbappe alone is not enough. Mbappe wants the strongest sporting project, as does Erling Haaland. Barcelona just showed the weaknesses in Real’s project, with Carlo at the top of the list.
Will this loss push Real Madrid to secure Tchouameni and other role players?
Real Madrid’s humbling defeat to their arch rivals will have to lead to changes in the summer transfer window, and one player Los Blancos have already been pushing hard to sign is AS Monaco defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni. He is the best possible midfielder for Los Blancos to sign this summer, when you consider his age, upside, price, and fit into the team.
Casemiro remains an effective defensive midfielder, but Real are starting to see that his weaknesses on the ball are holding the team back. He is a defensive midfielder from a different era, and Real are trying to create a juggernaut for the next decade in the Champions League. Or European Super League.
So Tchouameni is perfect for that. He is a modern-day defensive midfielder who can anchor a team, make all the necessary tackles and interceptions, and carry the ball to start attacks. He is more assured in possession and maybe even more productive defensively.
Real Madrid must do what they can to secure the 22-year-old Monaco man, but there are other roles in the squad that must be filled. They could use a more active, better dribbling left-footed winger than Marco Asensio. Obviously, they need a right back. Another left back with Ferland Mendy is an underrated need. They could use more depth at center back; Nacho Fernandez alone does not cut it. If they do not sign Erling Haaland, which seems like the case now, they need a backup striker. Raul de Tomas, anyone?
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Los Blancos have more needs than some fans wanted to admit. Maybe than the club and Perez himself wanted to admit. A game like this blows everything wide open and shows how rapidly Barcelona are making progress, while how rapidly Real could stagnate without smart, sweeping signings. Without real changes. Hopefully, this defeat is the impetus for something good in the summer transfer window. A summer of change.