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There’s been plenty of discontent in the Blancos camp after their hefty defeat to Barcelona in El Clasico and Vinicius Junior’s snub in the Ballon d’Or, but it got even worse in the Champions League as Milan rocked up at the home of the Spanish and European title holders and ran out 3-1 winners.
It’s hard to know where Madrid go from here as Carlo Ancelotti continues to try to fit square pieces into round holes, but where did it unravel for his side as they slumped to a second defeat in a row?
Madrid kept the most clean sheets of any La Liga team last season, registering 21 shutouts from 38 games, but that solidity has totally evaporated in recent weeks.
There are some things they can do little about right now. Dani Carvajal’s injury has left Lucas Vazquez as the only option at right-back and he was eaten alive on Tuesday by Rafael Leao, but he wasn’t the only defender who completely bottled it in the face of Milan’s vibrant attack.
Los Blancos fell behind to a Malick Thiaw header from a corner, while Andriy Lunin could only palm a Leao shot straight to Alvaro Morata. Both Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao were shaky, which is particularly odd given how solid they’ve been in Madrid’s recent successes.
The spine of their team completely buckled against the Rossoneri and, given it’s not an anomaly after the heavy Barca loss, Ancelotti needs to remind his defence of the necessary basics needed to win games of football.
Plenty of eyes have been on Vinicius Junior over the past week or so – his club’s reaction to his Ballon d’Or snub has ensured that.
And while the Brazil international did drag Madrid level as he won a penalty and converted it cooly, there were other parts of his game that were lacking. Vinicius didn’t press effectively alongside …
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