Ep. 13 - Industrious to Calamitous

Real Madrid put on a calamitous performance in a 2-1 defeat to Deportivo Aláves over the weekend after having just earned a solid midweek 2-0 win against Inter Milan in the UCL. While their win against Inter Milan midweek demonstrated industrious football and teamwork, their loss versus Aláves in La Liga on Saturday showcased the exact opposite. Real Madrid’s injury woes continued as they faced Inter Milan without Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema, and Federico Valverde. However, Real Madrid’s defensive line was able to shutdown Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku somewhat effortlessly with strong performances by Raphaël Varane and substitute center back, Nacho. In midfield, both Luka Modrić and Toni Kroos were at their world-class best and were instrumental in breaking up any opportunity Inter Milan had to mount an attack. It was a strong performance that led to a historic win for Los Blancos, as they had never defeated Inter Milan at San Siro Stadium. On the back of the important win in Italy, there was a feeling among the Madrid faithful that the team would have minimal difficulty with mid-table Deportivo Alavés at home in Madrid. However, Real Madrid has been anything but consistent this season. In a game that was marred by terrible officiating and yet more injuries, Real Madrid looked nothing like the team that defeated Inter Milan midweek. And if the loss was not bad enough, Eden Hazard had to be subbed off due to injury in the first half. Listen to our episode as we discuss both games and their takeaways in this week’s podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more!