Real Madrid’s crushing loss to Paris Saint-Germain showcases long-lasting imbalance of Los Blancos’ roster

East Rutherford, NJ – It is incredibly easy to build a hype around a collision between the last two winners of the UEFA Champions League, to the point that the associated parts of the experience, such as a roaring crowd and an excessive amount of fireworks for a weekday afternoon, are almost the proof of prestige. However, the fanfare was fleeting Paris Saint-Germain achieved a 4-0 win over Real Madrid in the semi-final of the Club World Cup On Wednesday in one of the most crooked competitions in the competition.

Luis EnriqueThe side sucked the energy from Metlife Stadium, host for a pro-Madrid audience, with the sixth minute goal of Fabian Ruiz. Ousmane Dembele Another added in the ninth and Ruiz completed a brace in the 24th. There was some shock value in the speed of PSG, but by the time the half -time whistle was accompanied by angry from the Madrid believers, the crooked result did not come as a surprise. When Enrique PSG and Madrid described as teams in “two very different situations” on Tuesday, he may not mean that a crooked victory was in the cards, but it was not difficult to introduce you. PSG has the habit of overwhelming opponents and pumbling them along the way, as their 5-0 win Under In the Champions League final on 31 May there is an example of. It meant that a clearly imperfect Madrid honestly had no chance.

There are new names in the mix for Los Blancos, head including manager Xabi Alonso and their breakout player from the club world cup Gonzalo GarciaBut the problems are still the same. While PSG Personifies Consistency, demolishing titans of the game such as Inter and Madrid and Minnows such as Inter Miami with equal efficiency, Los Blancos radiates imbalance. The inability to find stability cost them time and time again this season and has now resulted in their first trashless season in four years and makes their problems more difficult and harder to ignore.

“They play [at] A really good level and we have to admit it, “Alonso said after the game.” They are the early days of this new era of Real Madrid. There is sufficient margin improvement. There are things that we want to refine and improve and it is a painful defeat. We must admit that. We were not at De Standaard today and these will tell us things about how we want to evolve as a team, how we want to approach things so that we can compete at a higher level than today. “

While PSG has dumped their star-oriented strategy just before their historic Treble-winning campaign, Real Madrid is still attached to the reality of a team with too much excess. On Wednesday, Alonso’s first real opportunity to start Garcia alongside Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe, the 21-year-old who played a more central role in a front line of three people. The results left something to be desired – the three of them combined for five shots, four from Mbappe and none from Garcia, all for a total of 0.47 expected goals. It marked most of the Madrid output on a day when they were clearly on a second best, with 11 shots in total and 0.75 expected goals and only 32% owned.

That outing is not necessarily an indictment of the capacities of the individual players or even those of Alonso, nor is it a sign that there is no balance between the attacking talents of Real Madrid. It is also not a big surprise that Alonso could not get the best out of this group in their very first start together, but the 4-0 defeat against PSG is just as grim as a reminder that the balance that Alonso has to hit, not only with his attackers, but that there is work to do in just about every area of ​​the field.

To name only one example, they were without Trent Alexander-Arnold by injury, and although Federico Valverde Is as versatile when it comes, filling in rights is not where his strengths are. It made the battle for the wings all the more difficult for Real Madrid, because it is this area of ​​the field that is the basis of the success of PSG. Even more striking was the terrible outing of the middle back Antonio Rudiger and Raul Asensio, the last to be surpassed by the attacking unit of PSG. In addition to ineffective, they were Frazzled and more responsible for the result than the attacking trio that attracts most headlines. Alonso may have been diplomatic in his comments after the competition, but the manager seems to be aware that his problems are widespread.

“I’m talking about the team, not about the individuals, not about the players, not about the back line, not the front line,” he said. “I’m talking about Real Madrid as a team, how we want to play and today we have had some shortcomings on some points and sometimes it is good to see our mistakes and you can learn lessons for the future and we see some of the same mistakes over and over again, then we will not play in a smart way.”

It provided the most insufficient department Luka ModricThose 25 minutes played in his last game for Real Madrid. That also offered a look at the misery of the team – two months shy for his 40th birthday, there is nothing unfair about Madrid’s decision to continue from a generation in size, even if he still has the ability and the desire to continue. The Maestro in midfield, however, could not offer anything about a game that was already 3-0 in favor of the opponent. The game not only marked the end of an era for ModricThe only player who picked up the Ballon d’Or in a 13-year-old spell in which Lionel Messi And Cristiano Ronaldo exchanged the price back and forth. It was the end of an era for Madrid, indicating that a new project should take shape.

“It’s a bitter end, but Luka will not be remembered for today’s game,” said Alonso, the former teammate of Modric. “He will be remembered for many other great matches. He is a football icon worldwide, he is a real madrid legend. We had the pleasure and honor to be with him on the field and outside the field and he will go in history for many more positive things, and [not] Only for the last 25 minutes did he play today. “

With a new manager there is no better timing for innovation, even if the arrival of Mbappe should represent a team at the peak of their powers. How much work can be done before their first La Liga match on August 19 is a big question, where Alonso rightly notes that there is a holiday for a group of players who have played almost non -stop for 11 months. The manager was determined that they would start ‘From Nul’ next season, with the argument that the club World Cup was essentially a soft launch for his version of the team and that there is a change, even if he keeps his cards close to his chest on what is exactly. A rebuild may not be in the brand for the most successful club in Europe, but 13 months away from their last trophy, it is their only option – whether they like it or not.