[Review] All the superstars tried their best to regain 1 point, but Real Madrid has not yet come out of the trough

Elche 2 to Real Madrid

Sports Weekly reporter in Spain Wu Yifan

Originally he was calm and relaxed, but now he is in a hurry and rolling around. Real Madrid resisted desperately in Elche, but in the end they only got a hot 1 point. The joy and advantage of the previous national derby victory are gone, and Real Madrid will face tremendous pressure from third-tier competition. If this game brings any inspiration to Real Madrid, it is to let the youth training players be used for themselves, not for their opponents.

A few hours before the start of the game, Real Madrid President Florentino delivered a speech at the 2025 Annual Member Representative Conference, during which he particularly praised the success of football youth training: There are 199 Real Madrid youth training players distributed in various professional leagues, and most clubs in La Liga and La Liga have Real Madrid players playing for the team - including this round's opponent Elche. There are three Real Madrid youth training players in the Elche team: defender Chust, midfielder Favas, and forward Alvaro Rodriguez. There is also an old friend, Little Redondo.

Two of these three former Real Madrid players scored against their old clubs in this game. Fevas, who spent almost his entire youth training at Valdebebas, was loaned out as early as 2017 and eventually left the team completely. He has spent most of his nearly eight-year career in Segunda División. Breaking through Courtois's goal this time has nothing to do with proof or revenge. The crazy celebration is more like a pure emotional explosion.

Alvaro Rodriguez, the "Bull" who followed closely behind, once appeared in the Real Madrid first team under the guidance of Ancelotti and scored a goal, but in the end he could not escape the fate of being idle and loaned out. He officially left Real Madrid in the summer window of 2025, and Elche paid 2 million euros for him. It’s hard to say whether the money is worth it. Alvaro has only scored 2 goals so far, and his efficiency is far inferior to Andre Silva and Rafael Mir. But if Real Madrid really affects their final championship due to this goal and the two points they lost as a result, then these 2 million euros can be said to be too unfairly earned.

The only consolation is that Alvaro is nostalgic and did not celebrate. But the Real Madrid players got impatient and frantically pressed, crossed and shot in the last 20 minutes. In the end, they only managed to get a draw. The goalkeepers of both sides performed superbly. Courtois made 4 saves, and Elche goalkeeper Inyaki Peña made 5 saves. They blocked Mbappe's must-goals one after another. He was well deserved to be the best player in the game.

Real Madrid finally used set pieces, which they were already very bad at, and several super giants showed the fighting spirit and hard work of the World Cup finals to save the defeat. Bellingham stepped forward at the critical moment to help Wyson score, and then personally took action to equalize the score again. I have to say here that Real Madrid has many superstars, but the method of solving the game is so simple and crude. The question is, shouldn’t this high-end method be used to kill everyone? Why would you use it to hide the truth when competing against a newly promoted team?

Alonso is also mobilizing the youth training resources in his hands, but he seems to be somewhat passive. Militao was injured during the international break, leaving Real Madrid with only Wyson and Raul Asensio as healthy centre-backs. It cannot be said that Raul Asensio did not play well in this game. It can only be said that he and Alexander-Arnold, who finally waited until the start, lacked basic coordination. Most of Elche's threatening attacks passed between the two of them. In the second half, Alonso listened to others' advice and replaced Gonzalo Garcia very early, but he was sandwiched between several superstars to act as a "human shield". No one really wanted to send a cross to this young man with a good header.

In the past three weeks, Real Madrid lost to Liverpool, who were in extremely poor form. They were helpless against their neighbor Rayo Vallecano, who had entered the European competition. Then they almost lost to a newly promoted team led by former Barcelona assistant Sarabia, who pieced together Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Atletico Madrid and Valencia players. In fact, Real Madrid did not consume much during the international match week. Courtois, Valverde and Wyson all took injury leave to rest at home. Mbappe only played one game. The Brazilian team's two friendly matches were all in Europe. Even so, the team obviously still hasn't gotten out of the slump. Then this cannot be explained by the accumulation of injuries and fatigue.

Five months have passed since the Club World Cup. Where is the frontcourt coordination, where is the defensive level, and what roles do Alexander-Arnold and Mastantuono play? Real Madrid fans don't want to hear that illusory European Super League plan, they just want to know what Buddha and Alonso are going to do next.