Dubai: Real Madrid have gone from being the first side to have ever retained the Uefa Champions League to sitting eight points behind Barcelona in La Liga after just 11 games, following defeats to Betis and Girona. Ashley Hammond, Staff Reporter, looks at the reasons why Los Blancos are suddenly idling.
WASTING CHANCES
It’s often defence that’s the weakness when talking about such attacking teams, but that’s not the case here. In fact when comparing this season to this stage last year, Real have conceded four less goals (16 as opposed to last year’s 20 across all competitions).
The problem is that the team has also scored 14 less goals than what they did at this stage last year (39 as opposed to last year’s 53). What makes these figures even more distressing is that Real have actually played two more games this season than they did at this stage last year (19 matches to last year’s 17 at this stage) because they weren’t in last season’s two-legged Supercoppa de Espana. Of their 17 games played at this stage last year, they had won 12, drawn five and lost none.
This year, from 19, they’ve won 13, drawn three, lost three. At this stage last year the average number of shots per game was 20.2, the average number of shots on target was 8.4 and the average number of goals per game was three. This year, the average number of shots per game is 18.9, the average number of shots on target is 7.4 and the average number of goals per game is two. Using those averages, the rate of shots on target last season was 41.5 per cent, and the rate of on target shots being converted was 35 per cent.
This year, the rate of shots on target is only 39 per cent and of those on target, the conversion rate is just 27 per cent. They are creating chances at roughly the same rate but their accuracy in front of goal and ability to finish has dramatically decreased.
DEFENDERS NOT SCORING
The natural reaction to lack of goals is to blame Real’s star striker Cristiano Ronaldo but in all competitions, compared to this stage last year, he has actually scored more this season, eight compared to last year’s seven. Forwards overall have admittedly contributed less goals 43.3 per cent of the total as opposed to 54 per cent at this stage last year. And midfielders have actually upped their game considerably contributing 48.6 per cent of the goals this year as opposed to last year’s 22.6 per cent.
However, it’s the defenders that have stopped scoring, contributing just 5.4 per cent of the total this year, whereas last year at this stage they had been responsible for a whopping 18.8 per cent of the total. Own goals from opposing players actually contribute more to the total this year (8.1 per cent) than Real’s own defenders.
INJURIES AND SUSPENSIONS
As well as Ronaldo being suspended for five games at the start of the season for pushing the referee in the first leg of the Supercoppa de Espana, Real have also lost the likes of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Marcelo, Casemiro, Raphael Varane, Mateo Kovacic, Keylor Navas and Dani Carvajal through injury.
All of those names combined had contributed to 45.2 per cent of the goals at this stage last season, so they are a massive loss. Of the above, only Ronaldo, Benzema, Marcelo and Casemiro are back.
POOR TRANSFER DEALINGS
Last season, Real would have weathered such absences by falling back on their bench and reserves, where they had the likes of James Rodriguez, Alvaro Morata, Pepe, Danilo and Mariano. All of whom had contributed 22.6 per cent of the goals at this stage last season.
However, they sold Morata to Chelsea, Rodriguez went on loan to Bayern Munich, Pepe went to Besiktas, Mariano went to Lyon and Danilo went to Manchester City. €141 million was raised from player sales but only €40.5 million of that was pumped back into buying new players, and of those newcomers the average age was just 20-years-old, which is great for the future but not for now.
The average age of the above names they let go was 26, and they were experienced and reliable back-ups. But now, the second rung is just the opposite. They may have made €101 million in profit, but not strengthening or keeping their second line has now come back to haunt them. The most they spent on a new player this summer was €24 million on 19-year-old defender Theo Hernandez from Atletico Madrid.
They passed on the chance to buy Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe for €145 million, and so instead he went on loan to Paris Saint Germain where he’s scored six goals in 12 appearances across all competitions so far. Why are Real being careful with their money? Well, published debts of around €215 million and a new stadium renovation costing €400 million, to be completed by 2020, might have something to do with it. Time to consolidate.
PSYCHOLOGY
If you’ve won everything there is to win, motivation drops and you get complacent. On top of that you have a target on your back and all other teams put in a special effort to beat you.
Add in the fact your club hasn’t strengthened properly over the summer, because they are consolidating; your defenders aren’t contributing to the total goal tally like they did, because they are on the back foot to account for injuries and absences; and your star striker is still reeling from being accused of tax evasion, that almost saw him leave the country, and what’s left is an overriding sense of gloom.
That’s before you even get started on a general lack of luck in front of goal and the sweeping overview that things are cyclical and what goes up must come down. On top of this, your rivals (Barcelona) and their supporters are rallied by an intense sense of regional pride due to a political situation (the Catalonian independence referendum) that threatens to tear your country apart.
Your club represents the monarchist side of that equation that wants to maintain power, while your rivals are the rebellious wantaways. Momentum is always with the underdogs in that equation, both on and off the pitch.
