7M - Something about Real's defensive line

Posted Friday, April 14, 2017 by 7M Sport

Real Madrid failed to keep clean sheets in 7 of their 8 La Liga games following a win over Espanyol on Feb, 18th.

Goals conceded overshadowed their wins, thereby attracted the attention on their defensive line.

Benzema is the fall guy for Los Blancos' attacking issues, while Dalino is blamed for the defensive weakness by the fans.

In any game where Dalino starts, he is regularly booed when his name is announced.

The Brazilian has been severely criticised for own goals and for his being not tight enough for his man.

Actually, Dalino is unlucky. On Matchday 22nd, the Brazilian limped off with injury when Real Madrid were 1-1 against Osasuna. Los Blancos, however, claimed a 3-1 win finally.

One supporter even made a remark that the biggest mistake Osasuna had made was to cause injury to the right defender.

When Dalino is blamed, Lamos always looks heroics. Considering the leadership role and his performance on major competitions, Lamos' quality has never been matched in the squad.

The captain, however, shines only after 90 minutes.

His hopelessly rash in the tackle and not quite aggressive in possession at the defensive line has repeatedly put his side in a worse situation.

Another defender who attracts the attention is Raphael Varane. As the key central defender for Real Madrid and the France National Team, Varane has been regarded as "the best young central defender in the world".

Although he is only 23 years old, he has suffered a dip in performance in the recent 2 years.

On the physical lever, Varane is tall, strong and fast. He looked composed in possession, but now he looks tension on the pitch.

Especially in games against a strong side like Barca and Atletico de Madrid, his missed passes increased when they put up collective pressing-resistance.

Regarding Navas, he is a brilliant goalkeeper. His quickness is not worse than that of Casillas. However, this cannot cover up his height disadvantage and the same old weaknesses of positional awareness. Also, he used to make a save after a bounce.

In Real Madrid's Champions League round of 16 first-leg contest against Napolis, Insigne found the back of the net from about 40 yards out thanks to Navas' out of position and not coming off his line when the situation called upon it.

The goalkeeper has other weakness. His punch attempt usually failed to clear the ball from danger to allow the rivals to score their second attempts.

Some players at the defensive line did put up unsatisfactory performance lately. However, their overall strength is one that you cannot avoid or ignore.

Whether the situation can improve or not, it depends on how Zidane made an adjustment upon it.