That was possibly the worst I've seen Real Madrid play in a long time. There was no momentum or control over whatever they performed on the field for the full 90 minutes. It seemed like seeing a second-tier club struggle after bragging excessively about their supremacy.
I would have appreciated it if Real Madrid had displayed some spirit in this game. But, unsurprisingly, they didn't. There was a significant lack of vision, and nobody appeared to understand what he was doing or why.
They seemed to be trying. I'd grant them that. But they tried as if they hadn't been instructed how to do it. They had no game plan and no tactical support for their attempts. It was a communal effort to stay up, which resulted in yet another pit stop.
Here's a list of three worst players that gave little to the squad and were accountable for much more but couldn't achieve it:
David Alaba
If I ever meet Carlo Ancelotti, I would not leave without asking him why he has such a strong preference for flop players. David Alaba was incredibly awful. E xtremely, extremely terrible. Even the decision to start him was a shocker.
When attempting to overcome a three-goal disadvantage, you must leave as few gaps in the defense as possible so that the squad may collectively focus on pushing high up the pitch and creating opportunities for a comeback. Ancelotti, however, was unaware of this.
Alaba has been horrible since recovering from his injury, and he had no justification to start the first leg, let alone the second. He was the cause of a needless foul in the first match, allowing Rice to score the opening free kick. Even without that, he performed poorly against Bukayo Saka. The second leg was no exception.
Kylian Mbappe
He was trusted with a lot but did no little. His primary responsibility was to help Real Madrid overcome a three-goal deficit. He had to orchestrate the comeback that every player had been pitching since the moment they lost the first leg.
This is also why he got signed. A big game player, like he has always been, was lacking once more. Mbappe was shabby and had little control over the ball or himself.
He has showed little potential in any major game for Madrid this season, and I have no expectations for him against Barcelona in the next Copa Del Rey final either. Overall, a bad player. There is much room for improvement.
Lucas Vazquez
It's funny that this wasn't Lucas Vazquez's worst performance of the season, but he still made the worst three. It obviously demonstrates how bad he has become, and in my opinion, he no longer belongs in this team.
Vazquez did OK in this game. He was sometimes poor, sometimes good in defense. However, as is typical, he was caught off surprise several times. He's been a winger for much of his career, yet he only understands crosses. And I'm talking about some very horrible crosses.
Seeing him don the captain's armband was the last straw for me, since I now wholeheartedly oppose Real Madrid's seniority-based captaincy system. It may not have had a direct impact on the result of the game, but having Vazquez captain the most crucial game this season never seemed like a smart idea to me.