5 Things we learned from Real Madrid’s opening night victory over Inter
That has to be one of the strangest games of football I’ve seen in a long time. I suppose it’s typical Jose Mourinho to be almost completely outplayed at home and still come away with the three points but that’s the way it was at the Bernabeu tonight, Inter started the much better side and controlled possession for the opening ten minutes but it was Madrid that would open the scoring after mistakes from Curtis Jones and Bisseck on the ball gave the ball to Brahim Diaz who found Mbappe running clean through who was never going to miss and put Mourinho’s side 1-0 up. The goal didn’t seem to knock Inter’s confidence who continued to look dangerous going forward but yet another mistake this time from the goalkeeper Josep Martinez was pounced on by Fede Valverde to double Madrid’s lead just 23 minutes into the game, with Inter dominating possession they created numerous chances in the first half that forced some brilliant saves from Thibaut Courtois and I’m sure Cristian Chivu couldn’t quite believe his side were 2-0 down going into half-time. Heading into the second half the game state stayed roughly the same with Inter dominating the ball whilst Madrid looked super dangerous on the counter and really should have made it 3-0 with Mbappe, Brahim and Bellingham all missing some guilt-edge chances with some excellent saves from Martinez to make up for his mistake earlier, as the half wore on you felt an Inter goal was just a matter of time and in the 77th minute it did as Lautaro Martinez fired the ball across the box for Carlos Augusto who got one back for Chivu’s side. Inter huffed and puffed for the equaliser but Madrid were able to see it out and get their Champions League campaign started with a win.
I don’t even know what to make of that Madrid performance? On one hand they easily could have scored 4 or 5 goals tonight with the chances they created yet on the other hand they basically gave Inter full control of the midfield and without two mistakes from the away side Madrid might not have even scored tonight, you could clearly hear what the Bernabeu thought of the performance with whistles throughout the match but they come away with the three points so I suppose that’s all that matters. In terms of individual performances I thought Jude Bellingham was the best player on the pitch tonight doing the running of three players as Vinicius Junior and Mbappe stayed up front for the counter attacks but the Englishman’s overall play was brilliant and he was so unlucky not to get on the scoresheet with a miraculous save from Martinez keeping him out, unfortunately I can’t say the same for Trent Alexander-Arnold who was deployed in midfield tonight by Mourinho in an experiment I don’t think we’ll see again as Madrid basically relinquished any control in the middle with Trent only having 35 touches in there. For context Curtis Jones and Calhanoglu both had over 80 touches in the game so it shows how one-sided the game was overall, attacking wise I thought Vinicius Junior was awful and caused his team to go down to 10-men when getting subbed off because he took too long to go off. If you’re not going to help defensively then you have to deliver going forward and Vinicius hasn’t done that consistently for nearly two years now, it’s Mbappe’s team whether he likes it or not. Overall I think Mourinho will be happy enough as he couldn’t afford another loss after Friday’s defeat to Betis but there’s still lots to work on if Madrid want to compete for major trophies this season.
I don’t think Inter can do much more than what they did tonight. I think Inter showed tonight that they can compete with the very best in Europe but if they want to go far in the Champions League this season they have to turn that control and possession into goals, the two mistakes were poor for the Madrid goals but I thought Inter’s response was brilliant and they didn’t drop their heads like we’ve see so many do at the Bernabeu before. The standout performer for Inter on the night was Andy Diouf who was absolutely brilliant at right wing-back and gave Cucurella a really tough game out there which you wouldn’t have said this time last season, he put some brilliant deliveries in there as well that on another day would got him an assist or two. Unfortunately it was the attack that let Inter down tonight as Marcos Thuram came into the starting 11 and was really disappointing alongside Lautaro Martinez who I actually thought played pretty well but probably should have scored in the second half, Federico Dimarco was a huge miss tonight at left wing-back as Carlos Augusto just doesn’t offer that same threat going forward despite scoring in the second half. One of the positives for Inter was the introduction of John Stones in the second half who I thought added some much needed stability in the second half and calmed down the rest of the Inter defence who did look shaky during the first 45 minutes, I’d be surprised if he didn’t start against Udinese on Sunday. Overall a loss at the Bernabeu isn’t the end of the world but it does put Inter under some pressure heading into the next couple of matches in the Champions League.
Is this Real Madrid side capable of winning the Champions League? It’s a tough question to answer given we are so early into the season but based on tonight’s performance I don’t see a world where this Madrid side can beat the likes of PSG, Bayern, Barcelona etc over two legs. They still have a massive problem in midfield that wasn’t addressed over the summer and the Vinicius Junior/Mbappe problem is still there for everyone to see, you simply cannot have two players in the attack that don’t contribute defensively and the top teams will kill you for it. They will undoubtedly score goals in basically every game they play but they simply concede far too many chances and they don’t have a defence that can cope with it at the minute, Aurelian Tchouameni will help in midfield when he’s fully fit but they are still relying on Jude Bellingham to basically run a marathon every game which isn’t sustainable every week given the amount of football he’s played over the last year. I don’t really see much of a difference between Ancelotti and Mourinho’s Real Madrid currently but I suppose that could change over an entire season, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Mourinho dropping Vinicius Junior from the side at some point this season. Whether that would be a big story or not with the way he’s currently playing I’m not so sure? Would winning the Champions League with this Madrid side be one of Mourinho’s best achievements? t would have to be up there.
What’s up next for these two sides? For Madrid they are back at the Bernabeu on Saturday to take on Rayo Vallecano and then take on Elche next Tuesday before a Madrid derby at the Metropolitano in a week and a half. For Inter they are back at the San Siro on Monday to take on Udinese before an early ‘title contender’ match against Roma next weekend at the Olimpico which is one you don’t want to miss. I’ll have Barcelona vs Feyenoord and Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid covered tomorrow so keep an eye over the next day or two, hopefully they don’t disappoint.