Real Madrid star right back Trent Alexander-Arnold had an outrageous performance against Malaga over the weekend in his first start of the 2026/27 La Liga season for Jose Mourinho. Although the new manager stirred the pot plenty by starting new Serie A signing Denzel Dumfries at right back, Trent filpped the entire narrative on its head with how perfect he was against Malaga.
In a game filled with superstars playing at their best level like Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and Kylian Mbappe, Trent was arguably the best overall player when looking at the numbers. The former Liverpool star created three chances, dribbled all up the pitch to start moves for his team, and was putting in cross after cross, with at least a handful going right to his teammates.
But what really separated Trent from the pack in this game was his defending. In addition to barely misplacing a pass and ruling the game on the ball from a technical perspective as though he were another midfielder for Mourinho, he read the game like an elite 6, intercepting four passes without even needing to make a tackle in order to shut the entire right flank down for Real Madrid.
Trent Alexander-Arnold can actually defend
Trent Alexander-Arnold has always been criticized heavily for his defending, and most people who have watched him closely, including at Liverpool, do not feel the mass narrative is an accurate description of the player. Sometimes, he fails to lock in, but when he does, he is a top one on one defender.
And as he showed against Malaga, his reading of the game and anticipation are expert. There is no doubt that after Thomas Tuchel snubbed him unfairly from the World Cup squad and after Real Madrid signed another top right back in Denzel Dumfries that Trent is one thousand percent locked in. And he more than looked like it on Sunday afternoon against Malaga in a 4-0 win.
Real Madrid need Trent to be at his absolute best on both ends of the pitch, and as Jose Mourinho warned Dean Huijsen at the center back position, as great as Trent is on the ball and as a passer, he still wants his defenders to be great in defense.
There is this myth that Trent can't play defense, but that has never been fully true. And with this monster class, Trent proved the narrative wrong yet again for Real Madrid; they just want to see him do it consistently this season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google