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Real Madrid did not have star right-back Dani Carvajal available for a significant part of the first half of the season, and his return has allowed Los Blancos to return to a higher defensive level.
Each of the headlines of the Real Madrid defense is world class. Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos have been at this level as central defense partners for years. Last season, Thibaut Courtois regained his status as one of the best goalkeepers on the planet. And finally, left-back Ferland Mendy is unbeatable defensively, compensating for the weaknesses he has in attack.
However, the forgotten hero of the last four has been Dani Carvajal. It is remarkable that a player who has always been considered in the top three in this position throughout his career has never been appointed by FIFA to one of those “World XI” year-end teams. The correct word is “shameful”, but I will save this spiel for another day.
Instead, I’ll talk about how Carvajal’s return to Real Madrid’s starting XI from injury has helped Los Blancos dominate. It is no coincidence that since Carvajal’s full return to the lineup, he had a second minor injury after the first ailment, the club is undefeated.
Carvajal is as complete as he comes in the right-back position, making him an offensive asset with two assists in La Liga to prove it. That said, Real Madrid have two quality attacking options on the right side. Lucas Vázquez, as we have seen several times in 2020-2021, is an excellent attacking right back. Álvaro Odriozola is underrated in this regard, as his pace and willingness to advance make him an intriguing fit for a winger in a 3-5-2 position versus the four defenders Real traditionally uses.
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Both Vázquez and Odriozola have their deficiencies on defense. Carvajal isn’t perfect either, but his issues are more disciplinary in regards to seemingly random and self-destructive mistakes. Those mistakes are incredibly rare and pale compared to Carvajal’s overall game, which is at an elite level in the vast majority of the games he plays.
Carvajal’s defensive stats since returning for El Derbi are impressive. He was one of the best players on the pitch when Real Madrid closed a clean sheet to the entire Atlético de Madrid left wing, including the young star Joao Félix. The right-back recorded five tackles in that win, according to WhoScored.com.
He followed that performance with one tackle and three interceptions against Athletic Bilbao, three and three interceptions at Eibar, two against Granada, four and one interception against Elche, and one tackle and one interception in the last clean-shot victory against Celta Vigo.
So in this span of games, Carvajal is averaging about 4.2 total defensive interventions per game. That’s amazing and underscores how active Carvajal is on defense.
But what about the team’s success when Carvajal is healthy? Real Madrid haven’t lost a single game this season with Carvajal playing. Not one. They have five clean sheets in 11 games in all competitions when Carvajal is healthy and only allowed more than one goal once with him in the line-up, which was out of Real Betis on matchday 2.
When Carvajal is healthy, Real Madrid records a clean sheet 45.5 percent of the time and allows 0.55 goals per game. Compare that to a clean sheet percentage of 25 percent and a whopping 1.5 goals per game allowed when you’re not on the court. Real allow almost three times as many goals when Carvajal is away!
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These stats show you just how vital Carvajal is to Los Blancos. He may not always get the credit, but the Madridistas surely noticed the difference when Carvajal left. Carvajal is one of the pillars of the club, and the 2020-2021 season has provided fans with an opportunity to really understand what he means for this defense.
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