As a day has passed, fans have had the opportunity to sit back and assess Real Madrid’s 3-1 loss at the hands of crosstown rivals Atletico away at the Metropolitano Stadium. It is safe to say that there were really no standout performers on the day. A lot of fingers were pointed towards Carlo Ancelotti for his team selection and tactics. At the same time, one player has been heavily criticised as well.
That is none other than David Alaba. The veteran centre-back lost track of Alvaro Morata for both his goals on the day.
Alaba’s performance against Atletico Madrid has come under the microscope and many fans have called for the Austrian to be dropped in the aftermath of the game. But with Eder Militao out injured, Ancelotti does not seem to have any real cover options at centre-back other than Nacho.
Alaba even acknowledged on Twitter that he was not up to the mark. Of course, he is not to only who failed to impress at the back for Real Madrid against Atletico. That backline has been viewed as a weakness for a while and with no Aurelien Tchouameni in front of them, Diego Simeone’s side took full advantage.
Madridistas we all expect more! This was not our game, this was not my game! We let you down yesterday but we will fight back and we will come back to what Real Madrid is!
— David Alaba (@David_Alaba) September 25, 2023
Real Madrid player slammed for display vs Atletico
Ancelotti will need to come up with some solutions and quickly. The performances had not been great for a while even though Real Madrid were able to win all six of their games before taking on Atletico Madrid.
Up against tough opposition, the Spanish giants seemed to crumble. Unfortunately, that has been the case more often than not since the second half of last season.
Could moving Alaba to left-back be a solution? Fran Garcia’s performance against Atletico was nothing to write home about either and it is starting to feel like he might not be good enough to be a regular starter for Real Madrid just yet.