Real Madrid right-back Denzel Dumfries started the match against AEK Athens on Wednesday. Even though he was able to register an assist, he was nowhere near the level expected from a Real Madrid player.
Dumfries was the main reason why AEK were able to score their second goal on the night. He was not providing anything on either end of the pitch. He was losing all of his defensive duels, including a very embarrassing one where he tried to body off of an AEK player, only to then lose his footing and go down instead in the second half.
He was also not providing much in the attack. He looked lethargic, out of sorts, and just a step slower than literally every single player on the pitch.
Denzel Dumfries, despite the assist to Kylian Mbappe, was terrible vs AEK Athens
Dumfries has not been nearly at the level that fans expected him to be at before he first played for the club. All of this entire situation makes Trent Alexander-Arnold not starting over him even more confusing and ridiculous, simply because Trent, in limited minutes, has provided more on both ends of the pitch than Dumfries has, despite fans claiming him to be a more complete right-back than the Englishman.
In fact, one could even go as far as to say Dumfries has been even worse than Vinicius Junior this season. That comes down to one reason and one reason alone: Vinicius Junior, at the very least, has had one good game for Real Madrid.
Against Real Sociedad, he was decent, scoring one goal and assisting another in 84 minutes. He was also creating more chances for his teammates. After that, yes, his performances have been quite awful, and more is expected from him than it is from Dumfries, but at least Vinicius Junior has had one good game. Dumfries, on the other hand, has not even had that.
Real Madrid have two right-backs, three if you count Fede Valverde as one now. The difference in quality between Valverde and Trent, and then Dumfries, is monumental. It is not like Real Madrid signed a terrible player.
Dumfries has been very good in the last few years. Even at the World Cup, he was one of the Netherlands' better players. For Inter, the last couple of seasons, he has been one of their most important players on that right side, scoring some important goals and providing important assists and defensive interventions. However, at Real Madrid, he just seems like he's not good enough. Even then, he gets the nod over Trent in so many of the club's games.
Vinicius Junior has been the bigger disappointment because more is expected from that player than from Dumfries. Strictly looking at performances, Vinicius Junior has had one good performance, while Dumfries has had none. It is a low bar to begin with, but even then, Dumfries is surpassing that, which is really frustrating for Real Madrid fans.
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