Real Madrid halfway report: Season performance, best players, underachievers and average performers so far

Real Madrid’s 2024/25 campaign started pretty much bright, as they scooped the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta, with Kylian Mbappe scoring on his debut.

However, with the season reaching halfway mark, the plotline has been mixed with bittersweet experience for the Spanish giants.

They are faced with several turbulences  from below-mark performance from Kylian Mbappe, to plague from injuries, rocking Carlo Ancelotti’s squad.

The La Liga champions are second on the log, a point behind Atletico Madrid, which is not bad a start. However, looking from the performance rate, it has been far from expectations, following the new-look team filled to the brim with prodigious talents, expected to rule the world.

Los Blancos went unbeaten in all competitions until early October. They also started their Champions League title defense with a win over Stuttgart.

However, they suffered a defeat to Lille, showing a hole in their armour. They responded back with a three-game winning streak which was sensationally broken in El Clasico with a 4-0 defeat at Bernabeu.

Meanwhile, the opening unbeaten run in the Spanish league wasn’t satisfying as they struggled to bang in goals. They went goalless in five first-half of their first six games, even with the combination of Vinicius Junior, Mbappe, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham.

Another defeat from Milan drew attentions on the compatibility of Mbappe and Vinicius on the attack.

Mbappe was struggling to perform with the no9 role, and also replicate his goalscoring form. Also, the partnership with Vinicius wasn’t looking glowy as it seemed with Vinicius and Karim Benzema, two seasons ago.

Meanwhile, the dilemma spread down to last season player of the season, Bellingham. The Englishman, who scored 24 goals in his debut season, started this season without a goal until after 16 games.

Another dilemma to the squad is the injury crisis. The loss of the likes of Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba and Thibaut Courtois among others which have proved to be thoroughly damaging.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid have not put together one single game where the full 90 minutes have looked good. Probably two halves — Alaves first half and Borussia Dortmund second half — were legitimately good.

The defensive line has been disastrous following the injury crisis. Lucas Vazquez has been getting barbecued on the wing, which has also chained Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham in deeper positions.

There has been zero production from the current starting wing-backs, Ferland Mendy and Vazquez. Fran Garcia has outperformed Mendy, but the youngster has not been rewarded with playing time.

Other young guns, Arda Güler, Endrick, have both impressed in minutes, however without much reward with playing time.

Best players:

Vinicius Junior, Antonio Rudiger

Vinicius has so far been the best performer of Madrid this season. He has had to drag Madrid through games so far.

While there is yet to be synergy in the attack combination of Vini, Rodrygo, Mbappe and Bellingham, there can be no doubting Vinicius Junior’s enduring quality and importance to the team.

Rudiger has been standing tall at the back, where seemingly every defender around him has been struck down by an injury.

Although , there’s little the German can do in solidify the backline all alone with his experience and technicality, Rudiger still remains as determined as ever at centre-back and even has two goals in the Champions League.

Underachievers:

Kylian Mbappe, Aurelien Tchouameni

The dream move of Kylian Mbappe has been more of a nightmare in the first few months in a Madrid shirt.

Even with eight goals from 16 games, the France captain has found it hard to follow the footstep of his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Mbappe is still marauding, unsure of which position to play, despite tasked with the no9 role.

The Frenchman hasn’t looked completely comfortable when deployed in a central role. He has also gotten in Vinicius’ way as both stars like playing from the left and even when chanced to play from the preferred position, still struggled to hit the runs.

The synergy just isn’t there yet.

Average performer:

Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga

Bellingham has the right mix of athletic and technicality. He is quite impossible to dispossess, has an amazing first-touch even in pressuring positions. It’s uncommon seeing him not come out of a tightly-marked situation with the ball still at his feet.

This version of Bellingham, where he plays slightly deeper due to Kylian Mbappe’s arrival, has enabled us to see him in a more box-to-box role, but it has also seen him, once again, gassing himself out.

Against Barcelona, he played almost as a right-back to make up for Vazquez’s defensive deficiencies. Against Milan, he was both making runs ahead of Mbappe while sprinting back to stop the defensive dilemma.

Bellingham was banging in the goals at this time last year but the issues between Mbappe and Vinicius have seen his final-third threat diminish this term.

Will he gas out by spring with the amount of ground he covers with such aggressive intensity?

Eduardo Camavinga, a pro-active engine just like Jude, has been a problem solver for Madrid. He alleviates defensive burden placed on Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham.

Camavinga is an expert getting between the lines to provide vertical outlets for Aurelien Tchouameni. His understanding of the left-back position also allows him to seamlessly cover for overloads.

However, the Frenchman have not been limited due to injury. He was side-lined to start the season due to a knee injury.

Upon his return, he has shown his technicality on the pitch, offering the team what they have missed.

Camavinga’s ball-winning in midfield has led to transition opportunities, something the team hasn’t had enough of this season.

His defense prowess on the left back position has been top notch. Against Barcelona, he was exceptional but Madrid started to bleed immediately he was chucked off the pitch.

Jude and Camavinga, amongst others, are key players that Carlo Ancelotti would definitely need to get Madrid back on track.

Having the full team back also, with the traditional counterattack tactics also will benefit Los Blancos more.

Will the season end in glory again for Madrid?

There can be no ruling out trophies when it comes to Real Madrid. The Spanish giants are serial winners and have made worse starts to a season in the past and still recovered to win all sorts of silverware.

Los Blancos have already won two trophies this season, the UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup. They are also in contention to defend the La Liga title, Champions League, and also claim the Copa del Rey, despite the rough start.

The winning mentality runs in the Blancos vein, and would need to maintain the momentum, deal beautifully with their dilemmas, to win more silverware.