{"id":81634,"date":"2026-09-06T14:55:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T14:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/81634\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T14:55:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T14:55:33","slug":"real-madrid-star-embarrasses-de-la-fuente-on-the-night-of-madrids-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/81634\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Madrid star embarrasses De la Fuente on the night of Madrid’s collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dean Huijsen passed the test in style during a complicated night in which Real Madrid stumbled<\/a>, the only player to catch the eye with his defensive solidity.<\/p>\n

The Whites kept running into a wall and goalkeeper Vieites, short of attacking bite all night. The centre-back who arrived from M\u00e1laga took charge of the back line with real authority, turning his display in the number 4 shirt into one of the few reasons for optimism after a first defeat of the season.<\/p>\n

Spanish newspaper “Marca” confirmed<\/a> that Huijsen’s mentality has changed noticeably since the start of this season. He has shown greater competitive toughness and clear fierceness despite his young age, a trait that may be linked to the promise he made to himself when he inherited the number 4 shirt from David Alaba, a number that for him carries the weight of his role models Sergio Ramos and Fernando Hierro.<\/p>\n

The player had stated: “What I know for certain is that I will give everything I have every day, whether that is in training or in matches.” He kept that pledge to the letter on the pitch at La Cartuja despite the disappointing result.<\/p>\n

Marking striker Juan “Cucho” Hern\u00e1ndez was the young defender’s main job. He carried it out brilliantly, keeping the Colombian under strict surveillance and denying him the chance to receive the ball inside the box.<\/p>\n

Betis went looking for their goalscorer between the lines. Real Madrid’s centre-back cut off the passes with perfectly timed interventions and beat him for pace in space. He also went toe to toe with Antony in a tension-charged clash, refusing to back down against one of the Andalusian side’s most dazzling players.<\/p>\n

His contribution stretched well beyond defensive duties and duels. What made him, alongside Arda G\u00fcler, the best in Real Madrid’s ranks was his boldness on the ball, his composure in receiving it and his sharp decision-making.<\/p>\n

Huijsen even pushed into the opponent’s box and nearly played the unlikely hero. In the 11th minute he forced Vieites to save a dangerous close-range effort after venturing up for a corner, then rattled a header off the crossbar. In the second half he won the ball high up the pitch to create a chance that almost became a decisive pass for Kylian Mbapp\u00e9. Convert those and the whole complexion of the match changes.<\/p>\n

The developing partnership with Konat\u00e9<\/p>\n

Alongside Huijsen, Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 put in a convincing shift without hitting his teammate’s heights. The Frenchman got through his defensive work despite looking at his least assured, both in possession and out of it.<\/p>\n

Still bedding in, the pairing showed a gap in readiness and rhythm. The young Spaniard is clearly settled and improving. The French defender simply needs more games to hit his best in the white shirt.<\/p>\n

Dean Huijsen has become Real Madrid’s biggest defensive gain on nights like these, restoring confidence to a back line that has been the team’s Achilles heel in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

Performances worthy of his legends keep coming, cementing him as a defensive leader. Through this brilliance he is chasing a personal goal: reclaiming his place in Luis de la Fuente’s line-up after being left out of the World Cup squad Spain lifted. Every match is a message of self-affirmation.<\/p>\n

Bitter as the stumble at La Cartuja was, the centre-back proved he can hold firm whatever the circumstances around him.<\/p>\n

You can discuss the topics and news in greater depth in the “Kooora” forums<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dean Huijsen passed the test in style during a complicated night in which Real Madrid stumbled, the only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[17880,20981,85,82,1139,83,17,369],"class_list":["post-81634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-madrid","tag-d-huijsen","tag-l-de-la-fuente","tag-laliga","tag-madrid","tag-real-betis","tag-real-madrid","tag-spain","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}