Positives and negatives from Real Madrid’s frustrating loss to Betis
· Yahoo Sports
Real Madrid’s 1-0 loss to Betis proved that José Mourinho, his coaching staff and the players still have a lot of work to do if they want to consistently earn wins against elite opponents, even though it’s fair to acknowledge the fact that they should’ve won this game.
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Positives
- Dean Huijsen has bounced back from a difficult second half of the 2025-26 season and is very clearly the leader of the defensive line. His playmaking ability was crucial and he was the main reason why Real Madrid were still able to dominate the game even with Camavinga and Valverde struggling. When his passing and his dribbling click, he is an extra midfielder. He also defended with physicality. A+ game.
- Arda Güler continued to impress. Should’ve had a few assists. Started to dribble a bit too much before he was taken out of the game, but he still made a positive impact.
Negatives
- Mbappé missed three massive scoring chances. Had an opportunity to redeem himself with that penalty late in the game but he missed it. His confidence seemed off after missing those two sitters in the first half. Real Madrid win the three points if he plays at his standard level.
- Vinicius was in Bellerin’s pocket all night long. He still deserves some credit because it is true that Vinicius created the penalty late in the game and also delivered what should’ve been an assist to Mbappé in the first half, but his dribbling is not effective at this point.
- Real Madrid’s midfield struggled the first time they faced a quality opponent. This could’ve been expected considering that Los Blancos have the same personnel, but Valverde is still a question mark in the double pivot.
- Dumfries didn’t help on offense. While he’s been good defensively so far this season, Real Madrid will need him to take a step forward and contribute offensively if he wants to compete for the starting job. Otherwise, Mourinho will need to rely on Alexander-Arnold and trust that he can get the job done defensively, because Los Blancos need offense.
- Diomande was invisible off the bench. He made sense as a spark but provided no such thing. Real Madrid need him to be more aggressive and decisive when he gets the ball. He could get an opportunity to start against Inter, so it will be interesting to see if he gains some momentum.