I was expecting overreaction, but some of this is hilarious.
The game itself turned on Casemiro's subsitution and Lopetegui bringing on Dani instead of Llorente.
Well, that and the the best back four in the game in the last 3-4 years playing like amateurs.
Marcelo had one massive brain fart but was otherwise decent, but the other 3 were shocking.
Madrid look like they were cruising and then they just buried themselves with horrible defensive lapses.
So, to write off the whole season or to write off this Madrid team based on that game, when you had top players obviously playing some of their worst football... Is a non-starter.
I also saw a couple of posts hating on Benzema, and I'll just repeat what I've been saying for years now.
He's fantastic at what he's asked to do, and even though his finishing isn't what it used to be, he's got a spot in this Madrid squard regardless of ho comes on. His role is not to pile on goals, but to work, take part in the build up (best striker in the game at this) and enable others to get into scoring areas and score.
What remains to be seen is if having a Bale-enabler is even worth it, because having a Ronaldo-enabler definitely was.
Benzema has been huge for Real, even if most of the football media don't see it because his goal totals are low.
And this game, in no way, was on Benzema.
There are issues with this team with so many important players from 16-17 gone, but Benzema is not one of them.
...
And I'll repeat what I said earlier. While last year, in the middle of their injury-plagued La Liga crisis people were writing them off, I still saw a CL beast in there once the players got back... But this season?
The depth is gone. Ronaldo, Kovacic, Morata, James, Danilo... Players gone in the last 2 years and the only new players brought in have been young Spaniards with potential - but nowhere near ready yet (and some might simply never become the players that the Spanish media wants them to become - I'm far from being sold on Llorente and Ceballos, myself).
Their depth, their "team B", won them La Liga two seasons ago, now it's costing them games.
Transfer complacency. Having a wage structure is to be commended and lauded, and not buying big players for years works if you have a top team already, but if the players are leaving, for whatever reason, you cannot just stockpile young talent to grow while supporting the starts... At some point these youngsters are asked to bite off more than they can chew and the side can no longer contend for big trophies.
At the same time, refusing Mbappe due to (ridiculously high) wage demands doesn't sound great right now lol...
Also, the Modric saga is not done yet.
Isco can't hold a candle to that man in the midfield, and if Modric is gone Madrid's chances to doing anything significant this season plummet further.
