Monday is considered the worst day of the week and that apparently applies to football too. Real Madrid played yesterday and the Monday match led to a defeat against José Bordalás' Getafe at the Bernabéu. The team suffered a lot Getafe's aggressiveness and consistency. Vinícius got fouled like 5 times just in the first 15 minutes of the match and that didn't help him focus on the match. As always, the biggest chances for Real Madrid came from the left wing where Vinícius plays. With Mbappé still injured (and who knows for how long), Vinícius was the heart of the Blancos' attack, with Gonzalo García not living his best night. Bordalás was well prepared to that and pinned Vinícius with two players. It was the right strategy as the Brazilian couldn't express his full potential. Needless to say that there were plenty of players booked, including Carreras and Tchouaméni who will miss the next match, and even two red cards, one for Mastantuono (who protested with the referee) and one for Liso (two yellows). Definitely not a quiet match.

Matchday 26: Focus on Antonio Rüdiger

For the fourth time in the last five matches, Antonio Rüdiger was a starter, as centre back alongside David Alaba. We all kow that Rüdiger is a tough player who doesn't indulge in trivelas or nutmegs. Quantity over quality is most definitely his motto. However, in this match that didn't help the team.

In the first half he helped circulate the ball and moved forward every time the team attacked and reached the box on every corner or free kick. Every time he did this, Alexander-Arnold, Tchouaméni and Valverde had to cover his position in the backline. That was nice teamwork.

Rüdiger couldn't control his impetuosity when he fouled Sergio Rico, not intentionally but with some violence. Luckily no red nor yellow card for him and, more importantly, no injury for the opponent. Unfortunately, Rüdiger played a key role in Martín Satriano's goal: he lacked precision defensively and lost a ball that Mauro Aranbarri passed to Satriano who scored. It was a beautiful goal, no doubt.

In the second half, the team did everything they could to equalise but Rüdiger drove forward just rarely, preferring not to leave the backline. One of the few times he tried a header on a corner kick (at minute 74 by Mastantuono), he didn't find the net. Again some contact with Getafe's players (mainly with Domingos Duarte) who often tried to provoke him.

Honestly, it wasn't a totally bad match by Rüdiger, but his mistake on the goal was decisive and his "tough attitude" towards Getafe's players just distracted the Madrid players and fueled the opponent. Useless discussions and "fights" by both him and Vinícius didn't help Real Madrid focus on scoring the equaliser and the second half was definitely chaotic and inconsistent. What a shame...

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Did you watch the match? Which player impressed you the most? Hit reply and let me know!

See you next Tuesday!

Marta