Defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni is one of the most important players on Real Madrid, even as the superstar attackers, Jude Bellingham, and Fede Valverde soak up most of the praise and Ballon d’Or love for the 2024/25 season.
Nobody on Real Madrid can do what Tchouameni does as one of the best No. 6’s in the world, screening the defense expertly – he can even star at center back on his own – while pinging beautiful passes with his high football IQ and technical ability.
Tchouameni went overlooked in Real’s 3-1 win over Stuttgart to open the 2024/25 Champions League season, but there’s one ridiculous pass everyone should take a second look at.
From his own half, Tchouameni quickly looked over his shoulder and then, with one touch, smashed the ball across his body, skipping it into the final third to meet Rodrygo Goes perfectly in stride on the right flank.
The ball skipped perfectly in front of the defender and over his desperately outstretched leg before reaching Rodrygo, who simply had to sprint into space and square the ball to Kylian Mbappe, who deposited his fifth career Real Madrid goal into the gaping net for Real’s opener vs. Stuttgart.
It was a beautiful sequence created in the blink of an eye, reminiscent of Jose Mourinho’s heyday coaching the Real Madrid counterattack. It was a 10/10 pass from a 10/10 midfielder in Tchouameni, who reminded Madridistas of a prime Toni Kroos or Xabi Alonso with that beautiful regista’s assist to Rodrygo before he had the box score assist for Mbappe.
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. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.