While Real Madrid’s attacking play has seen one of their players break a few goalscoring records of late, they are on the cusp of an important defensive one.
A shutout on Wednesday against Athletic Bilbao will see Madrid keep a record fifth clean sheet in their opening five matches. It’s a record which has stood the test of time, despite Los Blancos’ history of dominance, set by Miguel Angel in 1975.
Madrid managed only 15 clean sheets in La Liga last season, as opposed to the 23 Claudio Bravo had in the Barcelona goal. Although they outscored Barca last season, the capital giants conceded nearly twice the amount of goals. In a League of fine margins, particularly at the top, these things matter. With the players at their disposal, Madrid will always find a way to score goals, but keeping them out doesn’t come quite as naturally. Enter Rafa Benitez.
Improved defensive performances under the former Valencia Coach is of little surprise, given his reputation as a pragmatic trainer. His ex-Liverpool charge Ryan Babel jokingly wrote of him on Twitter, “Benitez on his way to Real? He will make Ronaldo a great defender…” Well for a defender, Ronaldo seems to have done quite well for himself in front of goal.
In fact, ‘quite well’ is a rather gross understatement of the Portuguese’s recent performances. With five goals against Espanyol followed by a hat-trick in the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk, the three-time Ballon d’Or once again makes the impossible seem ordinary. On the face of it, no matter how defensively inclined their Coach may be, the team will always score goals, as evidenced by their recent, four, five and six-goal victories. Karim Benzema also has four goals in as many matches, while Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez too have chipped in.
While as a team, Los Blancos seem sturdier, special praise must be reserved for Keylor Navas. It’s hard to imagine three weeks ago he was sitting on a plane destined for Manchester United. Poor timekeeping from both clubs, however, may be a blessing in disguise as the Costa Rican has impressed recently, particularly against Granada, where he pulled off a number of important stops. Now, he has a chance to enter the history books.
Of course, if you compare Saturday’s match against Granada to the corresponding fixture last season, which Madrid won 9-1, it may feel like a step back. But not every win can be a rout – even if you are the mighty Merengues.
Nonetheless, despite the brighter outlook, they are still only second in the table after an opening-day draw to Sporting Gijon. Moreover, Benitez’s troops are yet to be tested by the best Spain has to offer.
Many in football, particularly in the media, are quick to praise and condemn in equal measure. No matter how good things seem, we’re only four matches into what is an enduring league campaign. Whether Benitez and Madrid are truly a match made in heaven, we’ll have to wait and see.
