Real Madrid were unable to get the full three points on the road on Saturday at the Vallecas, suffering yet another defensive collapse in a 3-3 draw with Rayo Vallecano that could have easily been a loss if it weren’t for some opportunistic moments from their star players.
Going forward, serious questions need to be asked of Carlo Ancelotti and Real Madrid, because even though they are actually closer in the title race after Barcelona’s own bleeding continued with a ghastly 1-0 loss to Leganes, Real, in comparison to the main Champions League title contenders, still look a step below their usual standard.
Here are three burning questions for Real Madrid following a subpar showing against one of their local rivals.
Why isn’t Raul Asencio playing?
For the life of my, I cannot comprehend why Carlo Ancelotti has suddenly decided to bench center back Raul Asencio when the young man was playing at a higher level than any other defender upon his entrance into the starting lineup after Eder Militao’s season-ending ACL tear.
Raul is composed beyond his years, accurate with his passing, and extremely active at picking up runners and helping any other defensive player who needs him to switch over.
That’s in contrast to Aurelien Tchouameni, who is bafflingly getting praise despite clearly not knowing how to play the position and getting exposed by any team with decent forwards intelligent enough to realize that Tchouameni has no idea how to mark players in the box, cover for the right back, or defend as a center back in transition.
Tchouameni wasn’t playing particularly well in the defensive midfield to begin with, and now when Real Madrid play him at center back, just about the only thing he does well is play out passes, which should be easy enough for a defensive midfielder with more time on the ball at center back.
Even then, Tchouameni gifted a great chance to Rayo with an ill-advised pass over the middle of the pitch, while his actual defending was atrocious and cost Real Madrid one, if not two, goals.
There’s literally no reason to bench Raul. He is the better option at center back now and very obviously in the future, with the potential to be a special player at the biggest position of need, especially long-term, in Madrid. Ancelotti has to do better.
Is Arda Guler ready to start on the wing against quality opposition?
There is no question that Arda Guler is one of the most talented young players in the world right now, as he scored six goals in his first LaLiga season in very limited action before shining at the European Championships for Turkey as legitimately one of the best players in the group stages.
Guler, though, has found it difficult to get minutes in Madrid, and, at first, I was incensed by this, because Guler is both the future of Madrid and had done more than enough to earn playing time based on his first season with the club and his performances at the Euros.
But now that I watch his performances more closely, I can understand why Ancelotti has been hesitant to play Guler. The talent is all there, particularly when Guler can show off his technical skills in the final third with the ball at his feet against the lesser teams in LaLiga.
In tougher games, though, you can see where Guler is lacking, and that’s especially the case when he isn’t playing in a playmaker role. Guler as a playmaker is already one of the best in LaLiga even with his limited top-flight experience, but when he shifts to the right wing, he can’t quite meet the demands of the position at Real Madrid.
Obviously, that will come with time, and Guler should still get minutes on the wing to develop at the position. The problem is that Real Madrid are behind in the title race to Barcelona and need to win now, especially with Ancelotti still, deservedly, feeling the heat after a 4-0 Clasico bashing.
Guler has to get better at doing the little things. His pressing, defending from the front, and positioning off the ball as a winger are all severely lacking. He could easily get up to speed on loan, which is becoming a real possibility in 2025.
For now, he is a Real Madrid player, and while he should get starts as a 10 and some games as a right winger, it’s going to be harder for him to break into the lineup over Rodrygo Goes or even Brahim Diaz in those positions because he, unsurprisingly, isn’t nearly as polished at winning duels or positioning himself as those two.
How reliant is Real Madrid on Vinicius Junior?
Real Madrid didn’t start Vinicius Junior despite the star winger returning at mid-week with a matchwinning performance against Atalanta in the Champions League in his return from injury.
The decision was ostensibly to save Vinicius Jr. for the mid-week Intercontinental Cup Final clash against Pachuca in Qatar, but it may have cost them points against Rayo Vallecano and potentially next weekend against Sevilla.
Real Madrid were demonstrably worse in the attack without Vinicius Jr., as Brahim Diaz struggled to make an impact while Arda Guler was outright poor on the right side, leaving Rodrygo Goes and Jude Bellingham to carry the team on their own without either Vinicius Jr. starting or Kylian Mbappe available at all due to injury.
The attacking urgency actually improved a bit for Real Madrid upon Vini Jr.’s introduction to the game as a substitute, but it was too little, too late. And then, Vinicius Jr. was yellow carded for yelling in the referee’s face after a noncontroversial no-call, leading to the left winger’s suspension vs. Sevilla.
Real Madrid signed another superstar in Mbappe and already have Rodrygo, Jude, Brahim, and Arda, but it still feels like this team is not able to beat their most difficult opponents without their most important player, Vini Jr.
That appeared to be the case against Rayo as the team struggled to create clear chances or get into the box without Vinicius Jr. running the show with his explosive dribbles and teasing deliveries, and they didn’t have much of a goal threat in the box beyond Jude’s marauding runs.
Real Madrid got Rodrygo to step up a bit on the ball as a creator and dribbler with three key passes and four dribbles completed, but it wasn’t enough because the other players didn’t step up around him.
The performance against Rayo underscores how much more Real Madrid need their other players to step up in positions besides the No. 10 role where opportunities in dangerous areas are practically spoonfed.
Besides Rodrygo, no other player on the wing takes the initiative when Vinicius Jr. is out, and the former Flamengo man is still twice as dangerous as his ex-Santos compatriot.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.