Defence still underwhelming as Real Madrid return to their best centre-back pairing on paper – Analysis | OneFootball

Real Madrid dropped yet more precious points in La Liga as they were defeated by Real Betis in their visit to the Benito Villamarin last night.

Opposite to the trend they have shown for the most part of this season, the Merengues started the game in very good fashion but faded away as the minutes went by, and at the end of the day, it was quite a disappointing outing from a team that is competing for the La Liga title.

Kylian Mbappe, Ferland Mendy, and Brahim Diaz combined in the first half to give Los Blancos are lead 10 minutes into the game, and it was looking Real Madrid would have no problems getting the better of the hosts in this game.

However, they allowed the Verdiblancos to grow into the game, and the Andalusians took advantage of their chances to score from a corner in the 34th minute. In the second half, Antonio Rudiger gave away a penalty as Rodriguez threatened Thibaut Courtois’ goal. Isco stepped up to take the penalty and slotted the ball away despite the goalkeeper diving in the right direction.

One could have expected this result to some extent, keeping in view the very thin squad that Carlo Ancelotti took for this game. Important players like Jude Bellingham, Fede Valverde, and Dani Ceballos were all unavailable for this game due to suspension or physical problems.

However, this game also saw Real Madrid return to their best available centre-back pairing, as both Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba started this game together, with Ferland Mendy and Lucas Vazquez on the flanks.

But this centre-back pairing was not able to mitigate a lot of defensive problems for the Merengues, as Real Betis continued to threaten their goal throughout the night.

The Verdiblancos were able to take 18 shots in this game, 3 of which landed on goal. 10 of these shots came from inside the box, while another 8 came from the outside.

Both these defenders had their fair share of defensive contributions, as Sofascore statistics note that Rudiger made 2 clearances and 1 tackle, and blocked 1 shot. Similarly, Alaba made 2 clearances, 3 interceptions, and blocked 2 shots.

However, the Austrian was unable to win any of the 2 duels that he engaged in on the night, while Rudiger won 2 of the only 3 duels he participated in.

This was the first time that there two veteran defenders started together for Real Madrid this season. Thus, they can be afforded some margin of error. However, one can only hope that they will be able to improve their performances going forward as they improve their chemistry and will help their team keep a more watertight defence.