The Reigning Champions of Europe, Real Madrid fumbled against LOSC Lille last night in the Champions League, marking their first defeat of this season and only second defeat of the calendar year, after they last lost against Atletico Madrid in January. This ended their 36-match unbeaten run. The reality is that Real Madrid has had a disappointing start to the season and yesterday’s match against Lille marks the 4th occasion when they have dropped points this season in the 10 matches they have played.
With the kind of players they have, this is a very bad run of games. Against Lille on Wednesday, Carlo Ancelotti decided to bench Rodrygo, Luka Modric, and Kylian Mbappe, 3 players who are difference-makers in Los Blancos in their own rights. This complacency later came back to bite Real Madrid. After a few great chances for Lille were saved by Andriy Lunin, during the added time in the first half, Lille was given a penalty by the referee for a handball of Eduardo Camavinga who made his return on the pitch for Madrid.
Jonathan David converted the penalty with a powerful strike of the ball to send Lille 1-0 up just at the stroke of Half-Time. Coming out in the second half everyone thought that Real Madrid would change gears and Lille would have it very difficult. But Lille managed to defy the odds, kept meaningful possession whenever possible and never looked flustered throughout the 2nd half.
When Los Blancos started piling up the pressure on Lille from minute 80′ onwards, they cleared out the ball and kept it near the corner flag for as long as possible denying Real Madrid any chances of counter-attacking. Throughout the whole game, Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and everyone else felt toothless as if they never offered any threat. The only standout player in the Madrid setup was Fede Valverde.
For Lille on the other hand, Thiago Santos, Benjamin Andre, Zhegrova and Jonathan David all put in top-notch performances. But there is one more player who caught the eye of everyone watching. That was the 17-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi who celebrated his Birthday yesterday with a win over Real Madrid! Not many can say that. The French midfield prodigy put up a masterclass against Madrid and not even once did he feel out of place.
Will this defeat harm Real Madrid’s morale going forward in the season? How will Madrid fare in their next game against a strong Villarreal side? Let us know in the comments below.
