Real Madrid and Barcelona tend to dominate the LaLiga Team of the Season every year, which comes as no surprise, but with the Merengue club clearly leading the league by 11 points over their bitter rivals in 2023/24, the expectation was for Los Blancos to thoroughly dominate the end-of-season lists.
For the most part, they did. Andriy Lunin, Antonio Rudiger, and Dani Carvajal have been nominated as potential La Liga Team of the Season players in defense, while Jude Bellingham, Fede Valverde, and Toni Kroos made it in midfield.
Yet conspicuous by his absence is Aurelien Tchouameni, one of the best midfielders in the world and, for this season, one of the best center backs in Europe, too.
Splitting his time in the defensive midfield and at center back due to season-ending injuries to David Alaba and Eder Militao, Tchouameni only increased his importance to Real Madrid in his second second since signing from Monaco.
Tchouameni has completed 92 percent of his passes this season, averaging 1.4 tackles and 1.0 interceptions per game while being an absolute wall defensively.
When Tchouameni plays center back, he doesn’t perform like a 24-year-old playing an unfamiliar position for the first season. He plays like a 30-year-old who has been one of the most solid defenders in LaLiga for several years.
Tchouameni controls the game for Real Madrid on and off the ball, shielding his defenders or being that defender who covers ground and anticipates dangers by snuffing out runs with his positioning before anything can develop.
The young Frenchman can create chances out of the back. When he plays in midfield, he can score them, too, as he has good technique when shooting from range. In total, Tchouameni has scored three goals this season.
Real Madrid have the best midfield in world football this season, and Tchouameni has been a key part of it. Defensively, they are having a historic season with just 22 goals allowed in 33 games despite injuries to Militao, Alaba, and Thibaut Courtois.
You’d think that Tchouameni would get more credit for being an essential pillar of that defense as either a center back or a No. 6, but, alas, even playing for the best team in LaLiga and a bona fide Champions League contender in Real Madrid does not prevent you from being underrated. But Tchouameni only has to look at his teammate, Toni Kroos, to see that this has long been the case.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.