What changed with Real Madrid?

Ever since after the Atleti game and international break, we’ve seen a major shift in the mentality and overall form of Real Madrid, culminating in a 2-1 win over Barcelona to win El Clasico. But, for a team that was so poor right before the break, what changed to make them all of a sudden be playing like a true Real Madrid side?

It all started with the game against Villarreal, which, despite the win thanks to Diomande’s first Real Madrid goal, still actually looked like the same team that played against Atletico Madrid. But, one fateful moment completely changed everything for them. It seems counterintuitive, but Vini’s red card is the one thing that saved Real Madrid’s season. It gave Mourinho an excuse to bench Vinicius Jr., who has been in terrible form lately.

Next was the Roma game. Madrid did start that game poorly, mostly due to a bad starting lineup, keeping the same double pivot of doom with Tchouameni and Valverde, and not starting Arda Guler. They went down 3-1, and it looked to be over until Mourinho subbed in the heroes of that game. He brought on Arda and Endrick in the 60th minute, then Bernardo in the 70th, and finally Carreras and Carlos Espi—Joselu reincarnated—in the 80th minute. These changes, especially Arda, Endrick, and Espi, completely changed the course of the game. Endrick won man of the match after only playing half an hour, cooking the right wing and connecting two headers, one of which led to a goal and the other converting into a goal. Espi of course scored the goal that started the comeback, and Arda provided three magical corners which led to all three of our comeback goals, ending with two assists and us winning the game 4-3. This game really shifted Madrid’s mentality, reviving their passion and reminding them of the Madrid DNA.

The next two games against Sevillla and RB Leipzig were fairly straightforward both ending 4-1 to Madrid, with Mourinho finally playing the correct lineups. Arda started both games and the double pivot was shifted to Tchouameni and Arda in one game and Camavinga and Bernardo in the other. It’s worth noting that Diomande has also been in incredible form since coming back from international break, assisting Mbappe’s goal against Roma and scoring in every other game until this point, with two absolute beauties against Sevilla and Leipzig. Apart from that, he has just looked much more confident, constantly taking players on and creating chances, just like Vini used to do. We can only hope that Vini will get back to his former self as well.

All this is great, but it means nothing if we can’t perform in the big games, and the biggest one until this point of the season was right around the corner. It was honestly terrifying waiting to play against this Barcelona team—at their home—who had been tearing apart everyone they had come up against. There was some hope, with Barca coming off the back of a loss against PSG, but PSG is just objectively the best team in Europe, so it wasn’t much to write home about. Still, the lineup looked good, with Diomande starting on the left, Arda on the right, and a double pivot of Tchouameni and Bernardo in the double pivot. And what happened next was just beautiful to watch. Madrid played the best football that they ever had as a team, with everyone fighting for each other, defending for each other, and playing as a unit. Just like that, 1-0, Mbappe scores off a cross by Diomande that deflected off of Gerrard Martin. But all it takes is a moment of disconcentration to be punished by Barcelona, and that’s exactly what happened off a corner, leading Raphinha to level the score. But then, Camavinga comes on, to bring fresh legs into the midfield. And the result is one of the most amazing pieces of play I’ve ever seen. In the dying moments of the game, Jude pulls off a roulette pass to Camavinga. Camavinga lays it off to Arda, then goes on a deep run into the box, with Arda giving him a perfectly weighted pass. Cama touches the ball around Cubarsi, and finally plays the backwards pass to Mbappe, who buries it in the back of the net, winning Madrid the game.

I haven’t felt this much hope for us in a long time, but I truly believe that Madrid can end their trophyless streak this season if they keep playing like this, winning Laliga and maybe even the 16th.