Well it sure wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination but somehow managed to avoid disaster and squeeze past Elche with a narrow 3-2 win. Los Blancos were up 2-0 heading into the halftime break before a disastrous second half collapse brought Elche back level until Carlos Espi's 90+1 minute goal secured the three points.
There were some good moments from Real Madrid in the match but also some catastrophic moments, moments that if repeated during the season, will lead to yet another disappointing season at the Bernabeu.
Here are three burning questions on everyone's minds following Real Madrid's narrow 3-2 win over Elche.
1. What on earth is wrong with Vinicius Jr?
Players can get off to a slow start to a season, it's normal and happens all the time in football, and usually after a couple of games the player starts to pick things up, and find their form again and get off to the races, but that is far from the case for Vinicius Jr. This was Real Madrid's seventh match of the season and so far Vinicius has only managed one goal and one assist. His form in front of goal has been frankly atrocious. Tonight alone, the Brazilian missed four easy one-on-one chances with the goalkeeper that in any other season for Vinicius would have been guaranteed goals.
The Brazilian still looks far off from what we are used to from past seasons. He looks slow, out of shape, and, for lack of a better term, simply uninterested. It was summed up perfectly by the match commentator, who said: "He's playing like he wants to be somewhere else." Vinicius was substituted in the 68th minute, and with the Madrid Derby vs Atletico Madrid this weekend, Vinicius needs to look at himself in the mirror and find his old self, or else he will be in for a long season this year.
2. Why can't Real Madrid keep a clean sheet?
Real Madrid's big emphasis this summer in the transfer market was to reinforce the backline after years of leaking goals for fun. With the arrivals of Marc Cucurella, Ibrahima Konate, and Denzel Dumfries, as well as Dean Huijsen finally being fully fit, everyone thought Real would finally have a rock-solid defense once again; however, that has been far from the case.
Real Madrid have only kept one clean sheet so far this season, and that came in their 4-0 win over Malaga on August 30th. Los Blancos have conceded in every other game, adding up to seven goals, including two in 12 minutes against Elche on Tuesday. This is a worrying trend for Real Madrid, and if they hope to get their hands back on their La Liga and Champions League crowns, Jose Mourinho will have to do something, whether in the backline or defensive midfield, to bring some kind of protection back to Thibaut Courtois' goal.
3. Is this finally Yan Diomande's big break at Real Madrid?
Following his high-profile, €125 million move from RB Leipzig in the summer, the pressure was on Yan Diomande to come in and perform right away for Real Madrid, and at the start, that wasn't the case. The 19-year-old started on the bench for the first five games of the season and failed to make much of an impact in any of his substitute cameos. He got the start last time out against Rayo Vallecano, and once again tonight against Elche. After six games, he finally got on the stat sheet - bagging his first assist for Real Madrid.
Diomande looked a threat for the first half before cooling off in the second. Much like all the other attackers. This assist will no doubt be big for his confidence going forward. Despite not yet scoring, he has looked more of a threat down the flank than Vinicius Jr, and with Diomande willing to do the defensive work that other attackers aren't, a spot in the starting lineup against Atletico this weekend could be in the cards for the youngster.
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