Real Madrid lost their third game of the season (1-0) in their visit to Luzhniki Stadium against CSKA Moscow. This is their first defeat in the Champions League after the victory against AS Roma and the group is now very tight. Los Blancos are goalless in their last three games, something really unusual with a lack of confidence. Julen Lopetegui is still unable to guide the group in this start of the season.
It’s still early days but the season doesn’t look very well. It was a turning point in the history after Cristiano and Zidane’s departure and after lifting three consecutive Champions League, but the team is disappointing, so is the coach. Los Blancos have the possession of the ball, but they don’t convert the chances. Besides, they are asleep in the first minutes of the game, failing in defense.
Lopetegui chose a very young starting eleven, with Reguilón in the left back making his Champions League debut. Also Ceballos or Asensio were in the line-up, with Luka Modric on the bench together with Mariano despite the draught of goals. But the first mistake came from a very experienced player like Toni Kroos. The German missed an easy pass to Varane, Vlasic took the ball and scored the first goal. It was the second minute of the game and Los Blancos were already losing against a weak team.
The positive fact was that the team had 88 minutes for a comeback. CSKA Moscow stayed in their box, defending close to Akinfeev meanwhile Los Blancos had the ball with 70% of possession. But there weren’t able to create many chances. Benzema, Asensio and Lucas Vázquez had a really bad day. The team missed Isco or Luka Modric magic and there were no passes breaking the defence.
Despite the bad game, Real Madrid could have drawn or won the match. They shot three times against the bar -especially Mariano had a clear chance at the end of the game but his header hit the post- and Varane missed the last opportunity with another header in the 94th minute.
Real Madrid have scored one goal in the last four games and are winless in the last week. There are signals to be worried and Lopetegui is not able to adjust the team. Mariano Díaz is still on the bench, while Benzema is unable to score a goal or create a chance. Ronaldo could be missed, but these players should be able to do much more.
