The Deserved Humbling Real Madrid needed in the Derby

The return of Jose Mourinho made every Madridista elated, but when a proper test against the city rivals came, Real Madrid crumbled.

Before the Derby

Real Madrid played seven games before the Madrid Derby; they had won six out of those seven games, with Kylian Mbappe leading the line with eight goals and two assists. The only defeat they faced was at the Estadio Benito Villamarín against Real Betis. Coming into the Derby, Real Madrid were deemed the favourites to win the match.

How the Match Unfolded

As soon as the game kicked off, you could see Real Madrid lacked intensity. Atletico, on the other hand, were determined to get a result out of the game. Atletico's brightest player was surprisingly Lee Kang In, who was actively involved in creating breakthroughs for Los Rojiblancos every time he had the ball. The game was played almost entirely down the left side of the pitch, where Marc Cucurella and Vinicius were up against the likes of Simeone, Pubill, and Lee Kang In. As the game progressed, you could clearly see Atletico Madrid had one thing over Real: passion to win the game. Simeone was constantly creating threats on the right flank, and Cucurella was no match for him. Real Madrid's attack, however, was non-existent; the only player showing bright signs was Arda Guler. Kylian Mbappe was constantly shifting to the left and overlapping with Vinicius.

In the 52nd minute of the match, Dean Huijsen was sent off for a last-man foul on Simeone, which also resulted in a penalty scored by the Spanish left-back, Grimaldo. After conceding the first goal, you could just feel Madrid wasn't going to make a comeback, and in the 59th minute, Atleti struck again through Jonathan David, assisted by Simeone. After conceding two, Real played a very conservative game; they didn't want to score and get a comeback, but rather stop Atleti from creating a humiliation ritual. The new signing Yan Diomande tried to create some chances up top but was sometimes left alone by his attacking partners. Real scored a consolation goal in the 89th minute, but you know the game was over in the 52nd minute itself.

As the game ended, you wonder why Bernardo Silva was not started and why Carlos Espi was not brought on from the bench when the team needed a goal. The team blames the loss on the referees, but blaming the referees and giving such a lethargic performance in the derby is not acceptable.

What Next for Real Madrid?

Exciting news for Madridistas after the Derby is that they do not have to see their team play until October 11. After the international break, Mourinho will have many questions to answer. Everyone can see the bottleneck when Kylian plays, and it must be addressed; involving players like Bernardo and Diomande regularly might be the way moving ahead. And as Mbappe said in his latest interview, the season has just started, so just wait and HOPE.