On Wednesday evening in the Spanish capital city of Madrid, its largest football club vibrated, sending shockwaves across Europe by taking 9 points from a possible 9 in the Champions League group B. Their latest victim - The Old Lady of Italian calcio, Juventus. German official Manuel Gräfe played a prominent role in the performance by sending off Giorgio Chiellini for a suspected elbow to the glowing face of Madrid’s man on fire, Cristiano Ronaldo. The women of the Bernabéu shrieked as the men howled and whistled at the Italian international. The Portuguese collapsed to the turf, smearing line chalk on his mug and Gräfe had seen enough to be swayed with nearly the entire second act to be played out. Yet, with a man advantage in the safety of the Bernabéu’s fortress walls, Los Blancos failed to drive the knife deeper into their kill and risked squandering such a vital result by giving Juve more than a reason to hope until the final whistle blew. Evidence shows that Ancelotti’s Madrid are still very much a work in progress but desperately working to improve to make up for lost ground domestically.
Real Madrid C.F. embodies the city which it represents - the monarchy, the rich veins of bustling traffic that break off into windy history-brazened side streets, and vibrant sherbet sunsets that melt over everything that is truly Spanish. Its treasured landmarks identify a proud people, as sophisticated aesthetically as they are passionate about their football. The Plaza Mayor, Cibeles, Retiro, Palacio Real, and the Prado Museum are all artistic examples amongst countless others but much like an event at Madrid’s famous Las Ventas (bullfighting arena), the often needy crowd of the Santiago Bernabéu demands not only that their side gets the job done but does so stylistically; it’s a staple codec in one’s madridismo. However, that’s not exactly the identity that Carlo Ancelotti’s piña has realized this season.
The lack of personnel continuity in the backline has played a part in Real’s dodgy defensive record since August. In all competitions, the team has conceded in 10/12 matches, 7/9 in La Liga. In a third of those league matches Madrid has taken a nap early, allowing the opposition to strike within 15 minutes. In the league alone, Ancelotti has constructed six different back four combinations, hardly allowing that sector of his XI to gel. Injuries and suspensions are all part of the game and a long season requires depth but if it comes at the price of dropping points, the issue becomes more pressing in La Liga where there is no luxury for the occasional error. This past weekend Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid both proved they are in fact of this world with respective stumbles but are still striding ahead in Spain.
Looking up the skirts of two hated rivals from the terraces below has, believe it or not, become a familiar viewpoint for Real Madrid in the last 12 months in spite of their audacious reputation. At the tail end of last season’s La Liga campaign, Real were able surpass their city rivals in the table to claim second after spending a meaty chunk of the season in third position. But Diego Simeone had the last laugh. Atleti pipped Real in the Copa del Rey final at Real Madrid’s own home ground thanks to an extra time goal from João Miranda to secure a party at the Plaza Neptuno. Meanwhile Cibeles and her lions were each other’s only company down the street.
With the Special One heading back ‘home’ according the Chelsea fans, Higuaín seeking a new adventure, Özil unwilling to fight for his place, Varane slowly recovering from knee injury, Xabi Alonso on the mend to correct a metatarsal, new galáctico Gareth Bale unfit for full duty, and Karim Benzema needing all but a GPS device to find the goal, this season’s edition of Madrid look… well mortal if anything. Nevertheless, as in all things, there are two ways to view the situation.
New boy Isco, though lacking clocked hours of top-level experience, has plugged the Özil void to the best of his ever-emerging ability. His eye for goal is already proving to be sharper than that of the German. We’ll look his career unfold with great interest, as we will with another young Spaniard, this one from the north. Asier Illarramendi, a boy of Basque blood, has had the pressure weighed on his young shoulders to be the heir to Xabi Alonso's throne. Shy by nature and maybe even nervy on the pitch in moments, there is no denying the similar playing style. Against Juve ‘Illarra,’ as he is commonly referred to, completed 95% percent of his 65 attempted passes, spraying the ball in all directions with an extraterrestrial ability to determine whether to play a 4-yard pass or a 40-yard ping.
The midfield has also been buoyed by the sparky Croatian, Luka Modrić, who has taken a season to really win over critics in Madrid but has become a bit of a favorite since August with his omnipresent performances as an inventive nucleus. Versatile as they come, Lukita can sit back and pull strings or slip in behind the striker and lethally inject creative balls between defenses. More often than not, I’ll expect to see him in the team this season.
The arrival of Bale has lit a real fire under Ángel di María who has cooked his cold spots from last season and become one of Ancelotti’s most consistent tools this year. The Argentine is the current leading assist maker of the Champions League. We mustn’t forget about Ronaldo of course. CR7 is carrying the team on his broad frame with 15 goals in all competitions in the season’s 12 matches. He looks hungrier than ever after penning his new deal at the club.
The Bernabéu has even discovered a newfound pride in their cantera which in recent years hasn’t held a candle to its La Masia counterpart in the inevitable comparisons. Nacho, Jesé, and Morata have all been given first team contracts. Not that they have made waves in the first team yet, but all prove to have worthwhile performences when they emerge from the bench. Naturally, Madridistas are stargazing at young Álvaro Morata, who turned 21 this week, as the next homegrown superstar. The boy has been carefully creeping his way into the hearts of many. He has an affinity for the Levante away fixture and was showered with praise with every touch against the Bianconeri in the Champions League. Even in his short cameo, the Spanish U-21 star looked livelier than his competition, Benzema. To see one of their own succeed buzzes Madrid fans like no other high, but a lot remains to be seen regarding Morata’s future at the club with Madrid’s fetish to spend big.
To don the white kit is nothing short of an honor and the highest of all stages to prove one’s valor. Madrid and its supporters have an embraced a slogan in recent campaigns that asserts the towel is never ready to be thrown. “Hasta el final,” or “Until the end.” In light of recent troubles and scuffmarks on their armor, there are reasons to remain optimistic for Madridistas everywhere. The season is still in its spring and amongst the chaos, there are flashes of glamour in the team.
The euphoric style isn’t something that will piece itself together overnight; it’s complex. With fresh faces in the team, the element of cohesive interplay is a building process. Yet even with the concession of early goals, the damage provokes a sense of fight to retaliate, the famous remontadas, comebacks. In the present stage of the Real Madrid evolution, it’s not as much flare and fireworks as it is grinding out results even if it means a scrap for 90 minutes and fingers (or toes) worn down to the bone. Look back at the games we’ve witnessed thus far from Real – the late winner from Isco in the season opener at home against Betis, the 96th minute penalty to take all three points at Elche, and the skin-tightening thriller at Levante the other week where Morata and Ronaldo both scored beyond stoppage time to call forth some of the most euphoric scenes of late drama in La Liga in recent memory. Madrid fans need to embrace the ‘never say die’ spirit living in the squad at the moment because when the said genius behind the one brow of Ancelotti manifests itself on the pitch, the combination of the two traits could prove to be historic. If there was ever a time to live out the preaching of “Hasta el final,” the time is now.
With one if not two eyes always on La Décima, it seems against all odds, Real Madrid’s support is reveling the rare opportunity to be an underdog of sorts. To feel mortal is to feel alive. The work is cut out for them but they are by no means out of the race for La Liga either. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but if my memory serves me correct, it was built by mere mortals as well. The unconventional scrappers put their new hardnosed persona to the grandest test as the first clásico of the season materializes in Catalonia on Saturday. Like all clashes at the Camp Nou, the away team is meant to be put to the sword, and it’s usually predicted that way for Madrid as well. However, Real have met a particular degree of success there in recent seasons. It’s a fixture the world will look, but Barça must beware that though they are hosting Real Madrid, it’s different sort of Madrid, a team under mending philosophy yet vicious ferocity.