{"id":81081,"date":"2026-09-05T08:18:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T08:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/81081\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T08:18:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T08:18:23","slug":"real-madrid-has-two-faces-and-the-numbers-reveal-a-troubling-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/81081\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Madrid has two faces \u2013 and the numbers reveal a troubling divide"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is one Real Madrid at the Bernab\u00e9u and another, very different one, on the road. A team capable of being both a hurricane and a tropical downpour. Forceful, but bearable. There is a Real Madrid that is devastating in attack but prone to defensive lapses. And those problems extend beyond the back four; the entire team shares the responsibility. A predator with the fangs of a saber-toothed cat, yet one inclined to leave itself exposed in the heat of battle. Perhaps through overconfidence. This Real Madrid has two faces. A fitting conclusion for what it is: a team still under construction. A fearsome machine with screws still to tighten. Imperfect.<\/p>\n

In fact, the biggest talking point during the opening weeks has been the difference between playing at home and away. Teams dropping a level once they leave the safety of home is as old as the sport itself. It is normal and perfectly understandable. But Jos\u00e9 Mourinho\u2019s crew looks very different when navigating unfamiliar waters. Madrid scored four goals against both Real Sociedad and M\u00e1laga. Two routs that delivered comfortable wins and provided morale-boosting feasts. And it is not only about the goals. The numbers offer further evidence: at the Bernab\u00e9u, Madrid is averaging 10 shots on target while allowing only two.<\/p>\n

\"RealBellingham heads the ball from a corner.JESUS ALVAREZ ORIHUELAThe flip side<\/p>\n

Away from home, however, things have been very different. The league opener at Cornell\u00e0-El Prat became a real headache because Madrid\u2019s dominance did not translate into results. The sense was that the team played better than Espanyol, yet still had to strain every sinew to win. Madrid takes one-third fewer shots on target on the road, averaging seven, and has scored six fewer goals. Its gunpowder becomes damp, soaked through by the stifling heat at La Cartuja, where the team failed to score. That is a genuine rarity: Real Madrid had been held scoreless in only one of its previous 24 games, the Cl\u00e1sico on May 10. Away from home, Madrid also allows twice as many shots on target: four per game.<\/p>\n

\"RealMbapp\u00e9 at La Cartuja.JESUS ALVAREZ ORIHUELADefensive short circuits<\/p>\n

The story of Madrid\u2019s two faces also applies to its defensive lapses because that is precisely what they have been: momentary shutdowns. Avoidable mistakes that hurt twice as much as a result. Espanyol\u2019s goal came from a breakdown in coordination between Federico Valverde \u2013 who bore most of the responsibility \u2013 and the defensive line as they tried to track Calatrava. The goal conceded against Real Sociedad followed a series of weak challenges from Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 and \u00c1lvaro Carreras as they tried to stop a counterattack. Then, at La Cartuja, Valverde lost his man following the rebound from a corner.<\/p>\n

These have not been tactical failings or the product of a poorly constructed team. They have instead been individual mistakes that go largely unnoticed during routs but become especially painful in close games. They are particularly concerning with tougher contests ahead, when there is no room for error because one mistake can send you crashing to the canvas. Screws still need tightening. Sparks are flying through the wiring of a machine that remains under construction.<\/p>\n

\"RealThe players after Parrott\u2019s goal.JESUS ALVAREZ ORIHUELA\u201cFresh\u201d and \u201ctired\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a machine that already knows what defeat tastes like. Mourinho even joked during preseason that the team actually had three faces: \u201cFresh, tired and super-tired.\u201d Over time, he has managed to make that final version disappear. That is the minimum expected, really, once preseason is over and the physical preparation should have begun to bear fruit. But the \u201ctired\u201d Madrid is still visible, particularly in certain players.<\/p>\n

Jude Bellingham is one of them. It is the inevitable consequence of being among the last players to join preseason following England\u2019s World Cup campaign. After the 70th minute, his fuel gauge drops into the red. Without his energy, Madrid\u2019s engine begins to slow. It is unavoidable.<\/p>\n

These details do not yet warrant sounding the alarm \u2013 not even a low-level warning. But they are symptoms of a project that, quite logically, has not yet reached its peak. It must continue to take shape. This Real Madrid is ferocious in attack and creates an extraordinary amount, but its defensive lapses are beginning to cause some unease. Those are its two faces: the one seen at the Bernab\u00e9u, where it scores four at a time, and the one seen away from home, where it has managed only two goals. Last night, it failed to score at all. There are still screws to tighten in this fearsome but imperfect machine.<\/p>\n

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