Real Madrid’s win over Getafe was solid – really good, actually – and it was something that the team and its players needed. They breezed past them, aided by goals from Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, and as everyone has seen time and time again, Real Madrid look good again. Usually, they only look good until their next big game. Hopefully, this is the first of a series of anomalies.
Dani Ceballos, criminally underrated
Real Madrid pride themselves over the plethora of superstars among their ranks. It has been proven time and time again that’s not all you need. Next to your superstars, you need a group of diligent, hard-working players who are great and underrated at their craft. That is what sets balance in the team, and that is what Dani Ceballos is providing them this season.
His performance was commendable and underappreciated in Real Madrid’s last win – a 3-0 against Leganes away before the Liverpool match – and it was similar, and in many ways, better against Getafe.
Ceballos heatmap vs Getafe - whoscored.com Ceballos heatmap vs Getafe - whoscored.com
Ceballos had the most touches (110), passes (95), and passes completed (89). He also won nine of his 11 duels, had three tackles, two interceptions and one clearance. He helped Real Madrid evade Getafe’s press effortlessly with silky dribbles and quick passes. Ceballos controlled the game, he slowed it down and picked it up whenever was necessary, and his long balls were effective and perfectly timed – some of them were outrageous, as he’d instinctively play a long ball with what everyone thinks is a lot of pace. It would find its way to the receiver’s foot because it was, in hindsight, perfectly weighted.
Ceballos is not a superstar, he has never been one, and likely never be one, either. But he provides a lot to this midfield that they have lost with Toni Kroos’ retirement. He is not as good – nowhere near, and he’d accept that if you ask him – but he is a good controller and is a tidy distributor who helps the team even though you wouldn’t think of him as the first name on the team sheet. He has performed well whenever counted upon, and that is something Real Madrid need during this time.
Mbappe-Fran-Bellingham was really fun to see on the left
Kylian Mbappe has been a talking point all season, and rarely has it been for good reasons. He was good against Real Madrid’s city rivals, but there was still a lot to critique from his performance.
This was one of Mbappe’s better performances — he looked a bit more confident — especially after scoring an amazing, instinctive goal — he was making the right plays, passing the ball around neatly, and making the right runs into the box and was dribbling much more confidently than against Liverpool. His finishing was still erratic — Mbappe could’ve had a hat-trick against Getafe — but there were signs of improvement.
A couple of reasons why those signs were seen were Jude Bellingham and Fran Garcia.
Garcia has been appearing in more La Liga games this season than he has in his Real Madrid career so far, and that is down to him churning out decent performances, and Ferland Mendy having an off season.
There are things Mendy is better at than Garcia, but one thing the Spaniard provides is offensive production. Even if he does not do anything to directly impact the scoreline, he is always making some great overlapping runs which a player like Mbappe could feed off of.
Fran Garcia heatmap - whoscored.com Fran Garcia heatmap - whoscored.com
Whenever Mbappe received the ball, Garcia was on his left, either making a run, or making himself an outlet to receive the ball wide. It is good and refreshing to have an offensive-minded full-back combine with Real Madrid’s wingers; they have lost that quite a bit with Mendy, but they have gained other things.
Bellingham was also heavily involved before getting subbed off at half-time due to a precaution. The Englishman was playing as an advanced left-sided midfielder who made those runs into the box that Real Madrid were sorely lacking against Liverpool. He helped Mbappe with brilliant passes — one of which turning into a really nice assist — and his positioning helped Mbappe become free in multiple sequences.
Leaving the Frenchman out for a second, Bellingham’s positioning also helped himself. This was easily one of his best performances this season, and luckily he will be around for the Athletic Club game. He’s scored in three straight La Liga games, and even though I am perfectly happy with him not scoring as long as he plays well, it does help, even though that is not his job.
Raul Asencio’s improvements
Raul Asencio has been pretty good in all the games he has played for Real Madrid’s first team so far. He’s yet to have a bad performance, and I am happy Real Madrid have found a good centre-back from Cantera. It is not worth sitting here while writing this and pretending that he has been my favourite Castilla player ever, because he was far from that.
He has never been as good as this for Castilla, which is why I was sceptical on Twitter about his promotion to the first team. He has been a player who would leave a lot to be desired apart from a few decent performances.
Rash fouls, leaving space behind in a three-at-the-back, being involved in needless arguments with opposition players, and just generally being inconsistent as a defender, Asencio was not that impressive at that level. He had some decent performances, but never was he this good.
I’ll happily admit I’ve been wrong so far — he has balled out in four straight first-team games, being good with and without the ball. Asencio has shown maturity that was seldom there at Castilla level, which is lovely to see. I have been harsh on him in the past, and I will still stand by those statements, but in these four games, the Spaniard has improved by a lot and it’s refreshing to see him play the way he is playing.
It helps Real Madrid a lot — if he was not playing the way he is playing, Real Madrid would have to be stuck with bad defense at least until the return of Aurelien Tchouameni, but that is not the case, as Asencio has been impressive in more ways than one. Maybe it’s a purple patch, maybe he’s just a lot better with better players around him. Regardless, it is time to give him his flowers.