So much of the attention around Real Madrid this year has focused on one end of the pitch – and with good reason. Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe playing up front together – and largely not making it work – has been headline news. There’s drama, intrigue, and plenty of highlight-reel-worthy moments. Putting the two best left wingers in the world, in arguably the best team in the world, and asking one of them to completely transform the way they play is equal parts captivating and stupid. At its best, it looks like two brilliant virtuosos, working together in tandem. At its worst, it’s youth football, children running around in the same spaces and screaming for the ball.
But Madrid are lucky, in a way. The elite players up at that end – toss in Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo for good measure – will inevitably figure out how to score goals. It might be a bit underwhelming to watch, or too dramatic for their own good, but Los Blancos will never have problems putting the ball in the net. The issue is, in fact, at the other end.
Madrid have only conceded 11 goals in La Liga, and a further seven in the Champions League, but they are frighteningly easy to cut through. And if they are to win anything – including the Spanish top flight they were supposed to run away with – then this all has to change. Madrid’s leaky defence is culpable of collapsing at any given moment, and it needs to be fixed.