Six points behind FC Barcelona in La Liga, 12th place in the Champions League table after three rounds. Real Madrid would certainly like to be in a better position at this stage of the season. According to “Sport”, it was a mistake to not make any moves in the summer. Florentino Perez was fully focused on the arrival of Kylian Mbappe for free and forgot about other formations.
In the summer, it might have seemed that the transfer of Mbappe would only bring Real closer to the long-term domination in Europe that Florentino Perez dreams of. Last season, the Royals won La Liga and the Champions League, so they were well on their way to achieving this goal. The Frenchman was also supposed to take another step towards winning the Ballon d'Or in the future. But recent results in the most important matches make us question whether such domination is actually possible.
“Sport” believes that Real's problem was not the lack of a quality striker after Karim Benzema's departure. The gap was filled with the transfer of Mbappe, but a hole appeared elsewhere. The Royals are feeling the effects of Toni Kroos's retirement very painfully. Real's game lost its fluidity and creativity.
“Although everyone was enthusiastic about signing Mbappé, they forgot that the team's problem will not lie in the striker, but in midfield due to the loss of Kroos. There is no one in midfield who can properly filter the ball,” we read in the Catalan newspaper .
According to the daily, Perez must have been aware that the absence of Kroos would result in a decline in Real's quality in the midfield, but he did nothing about it. No substitute was found for the German. He also points to Carlo Ancelotti as complicit in the situation, as he did not demand to fill the gap left by the German.
“No one dares to oppose Florentino, so Ancelotti remained silent and joined the summer revelry. Mbappé was not a priority to sign this season. Ancelotti knows this well, and he curses the day he did not dare to tell the big boss about it.” – stated.
The lack of a successor to Kroos is certainly one of the flaws left on Real's sporting image. “Sport” believes that the recent events, i.e. the high defeat in El Clasico and the boycott of the Ballon d'Or, “will go down in the annals of Real Madrid's black history.” “Sport” talks about “Florentino Perez's historic mistake”.
Real was scheduled to play away to Valencia this weekend, but the match was canceled due to floods in eastern Spain. His next match will be on Tuesday against AC Milan in the Champions League.