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Real Madrid September Review - Growing Pains or Signs of a Bigger Issue? 1
Real Madrid have finally completed their September gauntlet of fixtures, and their final results read as something more like what’s expected of Villarreal than Real Madrid. Three wins, two losses, and only half the possible points picked up in La Liga have led to Los Blancos heading into the first international break of the season already six points back on a seemingly unstoppable Barcelona (who have won all of their first eight fixtures of the season by a combined score of 36-8).
The alarming part of this start of Real Madrid’s season comes when you look at last season. Xabi Alonso, who was sacked after just six months in the role, won his first seven matches in the 2025/26 season, most of which were quite comfortable. The first cracks in the system came in their 5-2 demolition against Atleti at the Metropolitano. Still, however, it was a result that was followed up by wins in Real’s next six matches, putting Madrid at 13 victories in 14 matches to begin the Xabi Alonso era. The slip-ups only really began in November, and he was still sacked by January.
Meanwhile, Mourinho’s side have already shown cracks in all five of their matches this month. Out of Madrid’s three victories, only one was by multiple goals, and even that one turned rather nervy at one point.
Let’s go through all five of Madrid’s matches this month, and see just where they may have gone wrong.
Betis 1-0 Madrid
My Prediction: Betis 1-4 Madrid
MOTM: Alvaro Valles (9.7)
Possession: 42-58
xG: 0.97-3.46
While it was a defeat and the only match of the month that saw Madrid held scoreless, this was ironically Madrid’s best performance out of the five. Particularly, in the first half, Vinicius, Mbappe, and Huijsen all produced moments that should have resulted in a goal. Los Blancos were also fairly solid in defence, holding Betis to just four shots inside the area, and just 0.2 xG, discounting the goal.
It was a match that they should have won, and they had every chance to do it. Kylian Mbappe had a penalty saved by an elite Alvaro Valles, and Carlos Espi had a beautiful equalizing goal called back for an offside in the buildup. However, it’s not like this wasn’t coming. After the halftime whistle, a switch flipped in the Madrid players, and all attacking chances dried up. From the start of the second half to the 85th minute, Madrid had just two shots, and spent most of the half trying to build up against a Betis low block.
A rare bright spot was Arda Guler, a theme that has and will repeat numerous times this season, Madrid’s only major chance creator, who created seven chances before coming off 64 minutes in. Perhaps his yellow at the end of the first half was a contributing factor to Madrid’s lack of threat in the second 45 minutes.
Betis continue their streak of getting at least one result against Real Madrid per season, a streak that has been ongoing since 2017-18. Los Verdiblancos have now truly established themselves as Real Madrid’s bogey team.
Madrid 2-1 Inter
My Prediction: Madrid 2-1 Inter
MOTM: Kylian Mbappe (8.4)
Possession: 36-64
xG: 2.76-1.83
Despite what the xG says, Real Madrid were wholly outplayed by Inter in their UCL opener, a rare sight at the Bernabeu on European nights. Inter were close to a famous away win against the record winners of the competition, but mistakes from Yann Aurel Bisseck and Josep Martinez were instrumental in the final result of this one.
Real Madrid were held to a diabolical 36% possession by Inter, and it was a match that could have had many more goals than it did, but crucial saves from Thibault Courtois and the aforementioned Martinez kept it low-scoring. Madrid held on, and while the supporters would be happy with the points, the performance left much to be desired.
More on this when we get to the Atleti match..
Madrid 4-1 Rayo
My Prediction: Madrid 1-1 Rayo
MOTM: Kylian Mbappe (9.5)
Possession: 56-44
xG: 2.62-1.21
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The only multiple-goal win from Madrid this month, the opening 45 minutes of this and the Betis games make for Madrid’s best stretches of the entire month. Despite Kylian Mbappe’s 9.5 rating, it was Jude Bellingham and Alvaro Carreras who stole the show, for me at least. Bellingham was instrumental in the first-half performance, and Carreras benefitted off two Florian Lejeune errors to win the penalty for Madrid’s first and score Madrid’s second. Curiously enough, however, that performance was still not enough from the former United player for Jose Mourinho to play him over Marc Cucurella in the following two matches.
Despite the encouraging first half, Los Blancos still couldn’t get off easy, as Rayo fought back to make it nervy in the second half. The hosts got complacent, leading to a goal back from one of the revelations of La Liga so far, Sergio Camello, as well as a push from the visitors that made it a game again. In the end, Arda Guler would set up a late Mbappe goal to seal the match, but was it ever stressful.
Elche 2-3 Madrid
My Prediction: Elche 0-6 Madrid
MOTM: Kylian Mbappe (8.7)
Possession: 56-44
xG: 0.78-3.61
The award for the under-the-radar embarrassment of the month goes to this match. Elche have been one of La Liga’s worst-performing teams to start the season, beginning their campaign by failing to win against newly promoted Racing and Deportivo, and getting humiliated 5-0 by Barca. My 6-0 prognostication was that of this potentially being a confidence-booster for Madrid. It wasn’t.
Like the Rayo game, things started out well for Madrid, with goals from Kylian Mbappe and an Arda Guler free-kick deflected in by Matias Dituro. The visitors went into the half two ahead, and the match seemed over. However, like they’ve done so often recently, their eyes wandered off the prize in the second half, and two late goals inside 12 minutes pulled Elche level. However, in came their super-sub, to whom they are indebted for not being 10 points off the pace going into the September international break. In the end, blushes were spared, but letting the team at the bottom of La Liga have 56% possession against you is a horrible look.
Atleti 2-1 Madrid
My Prediction: Atleti 2-2 Madrid
MOTM: Giuliano Simeone (8.1)
Possession: 61-39
xG: 2.35-0.30
The true litmus test of the start of the season, Real Madrid failed the Metropolitano test once again this year. To be fair, however, it’s a test Madrid have passed just three times in the past 13 years, and just once in the past seven. However, it’s the manner of the defeat that makes this so embarrassing and frustrating for Mourinho’s men. Not only was Madrid held to just 39% possession against a notoriously defensive side, but they produced an impotent 0.3 xG across 90 minutes, their lowest figure in over 200 matches.
Real Madrid fans (as well as Jose Mourinho) will call this bashing of their performance unfair due to the deserved red card on Kang-In Lee in the first half for a tackle on Fede Valverde that will likely leave him out until December, as well as a potential red card for Cristian Romero for a challenge on Jude Bellingham. Perhaps they will also try to claim that the Huijsen red wasn’t actually a red, either. The Lee Kang-in challenge is fairly a red, but you could also argue that Jude Bellingham’s yellow for dissent that was oddly rescinded through VAR should have combined with another yellow he got in the second half for a red of Madrid’s own.
As for the Huijsen red card that Madrid fans thought should have been rescinded, it comes down to the still-embryonic double jeopardy rule that states that if the defender attempts to play the ball, a penalty committed that also brings down the last man cannot result in a red card, only a yellow. It’s the reason that, for example, Pau Cubarsi’s challenge on Lautaro Martinez in the Champions League semifinals in 2025 was a penalty, but not a sending-off. However, Huijsen doesn’t make an attempt to play the ball and holds onto Simeone’s arm while getting nowhere near the ball.
It’s a poor mistake from a young defender who was one of the few Madrid players who had been having a good campaign up to that point. The ball was actually traveling away from Simeone after controlling it, and the 1v1 would have been at a tight angle for the Argentinian to score, and it would have been against arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, Thibaut Courtois. Even if the winger had scored past Courtois, the result wouldn’t have been as bad as it ended up being. However, it’s a learning experience for Huijsen, still only 21, who will surely be able to work those types of kinks out of his game over time.
As much as Madrid and Mourinho want it to be about the refereeing, Real still showed little to no attacking effort at all between the red card and Rudiger’s 89th-minute goal. Vini ended up being the attacking sacrifice after the red card, a big statement from Mourinho surrounding Vini’s early season form. In the end, the possession and xG statistics showed little difference from Atleti’s 4-0 thumping of Osasuna midweek.
Are Madrid’s season prospects already fading?
After Real Madrid’s September games, the early prospects of the season make for grim reading. Already six points off the pace in La Liga, with an October Clasico potentially pushing the gap to nine, it’s looking easier than it ever has been for Barcelona to waltz to another La Liga title.
Three in a row for the Blaugrana would push the gap in Spanish league titles down to six, a comebackable gap that would confirm Barca having won ten more La Ligas than Madrid since the start of the 90s. Real also needs a big Champions League performance, as failing to make the semifinals again this season would mark three years without an appearance, the first time that’s happened since 2010.
Coincidentally, both of those three-year marks align with the presence of Kylian Mbappe at the Bernabeu, who, despite being Madrid’s top scorer by over double Jude Bellingham’s second-place mark, likely wouldn’t make most Madrid fans’ top three performers of the season so far. Is this dark period of Real Madrid’s proud history a sign that Mbappe is the issue?
Carlo Ancelotti, who’d won two Champions Leagues in three years in what was supposed to be a transitional period for Madrid, couldn’t even last more than a season during the Mbappe era. Xabi Alonso, an up-and-coming manager touted as Madrid’s “chosen one” who Florentino Pérez had been wanting at the Bernabéu for years, was gone after six months. So far, Jose Mourinho, another great manager with a great resume of success all over Europe, hasn’t been able to figure it out either.
On the flip side, perhaps Madrid are on the precipice of being able to turn everything around. Perhaps Madrid wins El Clásico next month, narrowing the gap in La Liga to just three points. Perhaps they go on a winning run and are able to snatch first place in La Liga back from Barca. Perhaps they go and beat Arsenal at the Emirates in December, a sign of intent that this isn’t the same side that lost 3-0 at the same ground 18 months ago. This is football. Anything can happen.
About the author
Alex Clare
Hailing from Toronto, Canada, 17-year-old Alex Clare has been watching, talking, and writing about football most of his life. After 8 years on his own site, Alex comes to Attacking Football building his journalistic portfolio and looking to get his work to a wider audience. Alex specializes in La Liga football and watches the league religiously every week. Alex also loves tracking the latest young talents in the sport and is a huge La Masia nerd.
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