An out-of-tune Madrid

Madrid won again by the narrowest of margins. They conceded their first goal. They won. That's nine points. The bad thing is that Xabi Alonso 's team isn't in tune. The midfield isn't playing up its game, and the famous pressing doesn't resonate with the rhythm of a great team.

The team's performance in the first twenty minutes reminded me, like a déjà vu, of games under Ancelotti. No high defense, no pressing. When a team wants to play football, Madrid's towering ideas spill out. Arrasate was brave with his tactics.

With Kroos 's Darder so superior in midfield, Madrid defended poorly and held back worse. A goal from Muriqi from a corner, with his back to the goal, was enough for Madrid to realize they needed to play with more speed and depth to get their football orchestra playing in tune.

Then, with light pressure, a cross came in that fell laterally onto Huijsen 's head, and it was like a headed assist. Arda Güler was passing by, and I think he scored the first headed goal of his life. And all this when the Turk had been awful up until that minute. I don't think it was a rehearsed play. It's almost impossible, but the Real Madrid fans believed it.

The fact is that the equalizer energized Madrid so much that shortly after, even Vini revived with a goal that was very difficult to execute, but which perhaps redeemed them from a terrible start to the season. Mallorca sank, and more goals could have come, but Mbappé was caught offside.

The second half, after Güler's unfairly disallowed goal, was worse for the Whites positionally. Mallorca took the lead and had two goals. One was saved by Carreras, who was the Whites' best player of the match. And without a midfield, because it never existed, as if the wind instruments weren't playing, Alonso had no choice but to rely on Ceballos , who is a conductor even if he's not Karajan .

For me, the worst thing about Real Madrid during the Alonso era is that the midfield doesn't exist. It's a transition zone, because there isn't a single playmaker. Valverde , without his right flank, has been stripped of his favorite toy. Tchouameni remains as a movable defensive post in midfield.

But Arda Güler is a playmaker. We've been saying that like parrots. And without a good midfield, with at least one creative player, Xabi Alonso's team is going to have a tough time.

The coach, who comes from the city of aspirin, has had two serious headaches. He hasn't even been given the chance to sign a creator or writer of football scores. At least not one like Darder, who was immense.

Xabi swallowed the pressure of reaching the World Cup , even though he didn't want to. And he's swallowed the shenanigans of Madrid's "technical secretary." Therefore, he's going to have to take a lot more aspirin.