The first slap will not be the last

Real Madrid fell apart like a sugar cube at the first minimally serious match. Unlike Hansi Flick's Barça, a guarantee especially on the big stages, Madrid's team shows all its weaknesses when the opponent is a tough one, one that's playing in its own league. It happened with Carlo Ancelotti in all of last season's Clásicos and in demanding continental duels (Arsenal beat them in both quarter-final matches of the last Champions League), and it continues to happen with Xabi Alonso. 180 million euros in signings have not helped the Madrid team improve when the situation calls for more than occasional flashes and an inspired striker in front of goal (Mbappé). At the Club World Cup, Luis Enrique's PSG put the new Madrid project on display with painful ease (4-0). And in the sixth matchday of the League, Cholo Simeone's Atlético de Madrid, who had started the competition with doubts, has uncovered the same shame of an anarchic and unbalanced team (5-2).

The first slap in the face since the summer won't be the last, because Madrid is a group that tends to fall apart. It's incredible that Florentino Pérez still hasn't understood why what was once a competitive machine has now become a wreck incapable of controlling the tempo. We celebrate that the all-powerful leader has forgotten that if meringues They celebrated three consecutive Champions League titles (2016, 2017, and 2018) not because Cristiano Ronaldo could perform impossible bicycle kicks, but because behind the Portuguese there was a trio of dominant midfielders (Kroos, Modric, and Casemiro). After a title-less season, trailing Flick, Lamine Yamal, and Pedri, Tito Floren changed coaches and used his wallet to sign defenders, but he has continued to neglect the most important thing: filling the pitch with midfielders with much more judgment than the erratic Tchouaméni, the irregular Cama. As long as Madrid continues to fail to fill this gap, there will be no refereeing siege that will save them. That's all there is to it.