Journalist: Unexpectedly, Real Madrid can’t even defeat weaker teams after Kroos’ retirement; catching up to Barcelona will be tough with the current points gap

On the morning of August 30, Real Madrid drew 1-1 away against Las Palmas in the third round of La Liga, accumulating only 5 points after 3 matches and ranking fifth in La Liga, already trailing the 3-match winning Barcelona by as many as 4 points.

In this match, Real Madrid conceded a goal within 5 minutes, Vinicius Jr. equalized through a penalty kick in the 69th minute, and there were no further goals from Real Madrid afterwards.

Regarding this game, Spanish journalist Ciro Fernández believes that he knew Kroos’ retirement would affect Real Madrid, but did not expect it to impact their performance against weaker teams.

Fernández wrote: “Another disappointing match, the poor start to this season for Real Madrid is truly worrying. Anyone with a basic understanding of football knows that Real Madrid will have a difficult season without Kroos. Honestly, I thought the absence of Kroos would manifest more in crucial matches during the season, but now, Real Madrid cannot even control the pace of the game or create effective attacks against teams like Mallorca, Valladolid, and Las Palmas, the situation is worse than we imagined.”

“After three league matches against opponents that should all result in three points, Real Madrid has already fallen 4 points behind Barcelona. Mbappe hasn’t scored in the league yet, Vinicius is more concerned about his hairstyle than playing football, and the entire team (except for Federico Valverde who performed adequately) lacks sufficient fighting spirit. Ancelotti faces a huge challenge, let’s see if he can get the team back on track, otherwise, this season will be a long one for Real Madrid.”