To think that Real Madrid have conceded nine goals in their last five matches across all competitions in the 2020/21 campaign is a really worrying issue.
To make it more scarier, the Los Blancos are yet to register a clean sheet in any of their last six games in the domestic league or in the UEFA Champions League.
Their performances in general have not been too good but have managed to get the needed results when they matter most.
Real Madrid started the season with a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw with Real Sociedad on the opening day and went on to add a further two in the subsequent three matches.
However, that united defensive unit seem to have fallen apart in the last six games that they have played, which has seen them conceded, that is half of all goals the club have scored this season (20).
Perhaps it may largely be due to the team missing some first choice team members for sometime at the back.
Daniel Carvajal has had to deal with a knee injury which has led to him missing Madrid’s last seven games. His absence at right-back means both Nacho Fernandez and Lucas Vazquez has had a taste of doing defensive duties in that position.
It Vazquez who has had a longer period playing as the makeshift, and though his output has not been that bad, his defensive positioning has been exposed on a number of occasions especially in the Champions League game against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Thibaut Courtois continues to put in impressive performances week in and week out and it is up to the defenders to ensure that the goalkeeper has clean sheets under his belt.
The Madrid No.1 one won the ‘Zamora’ trophy last season after keeping 18 clean sheets and he will be keen to add yet another individual trophy to his accolades this term.
The international break comes at a perfect time for Zinedine Zidane and his players to work on their defensive shortcomings and try to get back to the heights which saw them boast of the best defence in Europe’s top five leagues during the 2020/21 campaign.
With Carvajal also set to return after the international break, Zidane would have his preferred starting defence and that should give no room for so many mistakes at the back.
