Recent events and Carlo Ancelotti’s outburst have put the Merengues on high alert. Marked by the chaotic first era of the Galacticos, the Bernabéu doesn’t want to relive that.
It only took two matches to disrupt the usual calm at Real Madrid. Since Kylian Mbappé’s official arrival, Carlo Ancelotti has an extra XXL weapon for an already exceptional squad. Except that the Frenchman’s arrival was logically accompanied by questions. Would he integrate into the Madrid dressing room? Would Carlo Ancelotti find the formula to make all his offensive stars coexist? From the first days, the Spanish press assured that the answer to the first question had already arrived: Kylian Mbappé had been perfectly integrated into his new team.
A global star who arrived quietly, the Bondynois has visibly shown his good side to Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and the rest. The successful beginnings of the French captain’s Spanish adventure seemed to be confirmed by a victory in the European Super Cup against Atalanta (2-0). Apart from Vinicius Junior, the stars of the Madrid attack hadn’t signed the match of the century, but they had collaborated to allow Mbappé to score in his first official match. Enough to allow the local press to get excited about the brand new BVM (Bellingham, Vinicius, Mbappé). One match later, the tone changed. Held in check on the pitch of Mallorca (1-1), Real Madrid showed weaknesses and Carlo Ancelotti was not happy.
This Tuesday morning, the two main Madrid daily newspapers (AS and Marca) both relayed the Italian coach’s outburst towards his players. Clearly, Carletto reproached his players – and especially his attackers – for not pressing the opponent enough, for having an excess of individualism, or for exposing the full-backs by not coming back to defend enough. Before that, the local media got excited last night because of a post (quickly deleted) by Rodrygo on his social networks. A post where the Brazilian warned that there was more to it than just the BVM and that he was there too. So many events that have triggered alarm bells for some. A team composed of a multitude of offensive stars, big defensive weaknesses: is Madrid returning to the first era of the Galacticos where the stars ruled?
General alert in Madrid
Relevo didn’t mince its words: “panic at the club: Real Madrid, a team where order reigns and who knows how to hurt, could turn into PSG. In the corridors of Valdebebas (Real’s training center, editor’s note), they are warning of the danger they have already experienced in the worst years of the Galacticos”. For the media, if Ancelotti got so quickly out of his hinges, it’s because the Italian immediately saw the danger that threatened his team. With the arrival of Mbappé and the departure of Toni Kroos, Madrid has lost its balance. The midfield has lost its conductor and finds itself with one man less at a time when the attack has one man more. A fact that once again recalls nightmares for the club’s followers.
“A vulnerability that Real Madrid fears with the agglomeration of stars in attack, which recalls the imbalance of the worst era of the Galacticos and the departure of Makelele”. In Mallorca, the defensive shortcomings of the Merengues were obvious to everyone. Enough to sound the alarm. “It’s panic, forgetting to be the champion of order to fall into the pitfalls of this Paris Saint-Germain with Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé”, adds Relevo, who recalled that if the MNM triumphed in a Ligue 1 without much competition, it collapsed miserably in the Champions League, Real Madrid’s beloved competition. Accustomed to managing world stars, will the Bernabéu manage to find the solution to keep its crazy attack while guaranteeing collective defensive efforts? The advantage of this alarm is that it comes at the very beginning of the season and not in the money-time.
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