La Liga Preview: Real Madrid’s Midfield Issues Persist as Villarreal Seek Points on the Road

On October 6 at 3:00 AM, the 24/25 La Liga season will see reigning champions Real Madrid return to the Santiago Bernabéu to face Villarreal in the 9th round. Fresh off a defeat in the Champions League, Real Madrid are in urgent need of a win in the league to boost morale and alleviate their current crisis.

Real Madrid brought in Mbappé during the summer transfer window, but the pain caused by Kroos’ retirement has yet to be alleviated. In an effort to solve the current lack of creativity and control in midfield, Ancelotti has experimented with various combinations, but Valverde, Güler, Camavinga, Chuameni, and even Modric have failed to fill the void left by Kroos.

With the midfield struggling, Bellingham has had a heavy burden, shouldering defense, organization, and attacking responsibilities. Coupled with Mbappé not fully integrating into the team, Real Madrid’s performance has been less impressive than last season. Although remaining undefeated for 40 consecutive league matches is a remarkable achievement, almost every win has been hard-fought. In the midweek away match against Ligue 1 powerhouse Lille, Real Madrid was completely outplayed and lost 0-1, exposing all their weaknesses.

Notably, Real Madrid’s prospects for defending their La Liga title are unclear. In the previous round, Barcelona finally lost, but Real Madrid missed their chance, being held to a late equalizer by Atlético Madrid and only securing one point, leaving them three points behind the leaders.

Villarreal finished 9th last season without qualifying for European competition, but under Marcelino’s leadership, they have gradually shown strong competitiveness this season. After 8 rounds of La Liga, they have won 5, drawn 2, and lost 1, accumulating 17 points. Their only loss was a 1-5 defeat at home to Barcelona, currently trailing Real Madrid by just one point.

Real Madrid’s offensive firepower this season can only be described as mediocre, scoring just 17 goals in the first 8 rounds of La Liga, averaging 2.12 goals per game, eight fewer than Barcelona over the same period, showing a significant gap. Additionally, while Real Madrid conceded an average of just 0.68 goals per game last season, that number has risen to 0.75 this season after conceding six goals in eight games, indicating regression on both offense and defense.

Villarreal’s attack is on par with Real Madrid’s, but their defense is relatively poor, failing to keep a clean sheet in any of their first 8 rounds and conceding 15 goals, which is similar to the bottom-placed Las Palmas (who conceded 16 goals over the same period), leaving room for improvement.

However, Real Madrid’s home form remains strong, with 9 wins and 1 draw in their last 10 La Liga home games across seasons. This season, they have won all five home games across competitions, scoring 15 and conceding 4. Villarreal also have decent away form, with 6 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss in their last 10 away La Liga games. In the first four away games this season, they have remained unbeaten with 3 wins and 1 draw, scoring 7 and conceding 4.

In their last 10 meetings, all in La Liga, Real Madrid have 4 wins, 4 draws, and 2 losses, giving them the upper hand. Real Madrid have been undefeated in their last 30 home games across competitions, but their last home defeat was in the 22/23 season’s 28th round, when they lost 2-3 to Villarreal. However, with Mbappé now recovered from injury and likely to start, Real Madrid’s attacking power could be strengthened.

Can Real Madrid stabilize their hopes of winning the La Liga title amidst their unresolved midfield issues and relatively low morale? We’ll have to wait and see.

>>”>More predictions for this match can be found here>>>