A Complete Analysis of the Real Madrid vs. Espanyol Match

What happened today in the Real Madrid vs. Espanyol match proves that the center forward is one of the most important players in soccer!

Real Madrid was headed for a draw today and was about to lose two points early in the season—and guess who saved them?

Not Mbappé, not Vinícius, not Bellingham— it was Carlos Isbi, the new striker who arrived for 25 million euros and whom Mourinho brought on in the final 10 minutes to save the team from a draw. And sure enough, Isbi cleverly capitalized on a second chance and scored the winning goal in the 90th minute, reminiscent of the legendary Joselu!

Unfortunately, the match was mostly a disappointment. Mourinho switched to a defensive mindset after the first goal, knowing that none of his defenders could handle crosses, so he conceded a goal to Sazegh, and the misfortunes kept coming after that. Vinícius made one wrong decision after another, Mbappé squandered every chance, Arnold was left out of the lineup, and Güler—the best player on the field—was the first one Mourinho subbed out because he couldn’t take out Vinícius, Mbappé, or Bellingham, who are all protected by Pérez!

The best part of the match was the goal and the roar of Carlos Isbi, Madrid’s hero today.

Today, after the Real Madrid vs. Espanyol match, Mourinho made a fantastic comment about Bellingham that really gets to the heart of the matter!

Mourinho said that the No. 10 position is Bellingham’s natural role—he needs to be close to the goal because he’s great at scoring. If he plays as a No. 6 or No. 8, we’ll miss his goals!

This is 100% true. Bellingham’s natural strengths make him an excellent player in the penalty area—he’s great at finishing attacks. He creates chaos with his movement, whether he has the ball or not, and attacks spaces with great intelligence!

That’s why Bellingham excelled at the World Cup—he played alongside Harry Kane, who created runs and spaces for him to move toward the goal and make a decisive impact. And today, Mourinho tried to stretch the field horizontally with Mbappé and Vinícius to pull the defense wide and create gaps within it—just as Ancelotti did in 2024—to benefit Bellingham in this specific area!

But the real problem is that Mbappé won’t agree to stay out of the box permanently and will end up competing with Bellingham in the areas where I like to see him operate, But Bellingham can work relatively well with Carlos Espe because he’s an out-and-out striker who will hold the defense in the penalty area and create space for Bellingham to get on the end of crosses and score.

There wasn’t a single moment in today’s Real Madrid vs. Espanyol match more beautiful than the one right in front of you!

The player you see here is “Carlos Isbi,” Real Madrid’s new forward. Just try to imagine with me that this guy was about to sign with Brighton this summer—the deal was all but done!

But at the last minute, a huge surprise happened: Real Madrid reached out to him, and within 24 hours, the contract was signed. He then scored two goals in the preseason so he could play his first official match with Real Madrid today. He came off the bench in the 80th minute with the game on the line and scored the winning goal in the 90th minute!

Carlos Espi’s father said, “We felt like we were in a movie. My son was heading to Real Madrid in the blink of an eye, and Mourinho asked to see us, greeted us, and held a meeting with my son in his office, saying, ‘This striker is mine.’”

To cap off the movie today, he scored his first goal in his first appearance, and Mourinho himself came down to the field just to give him a hug. After the game, Espi said, “I’m the happiest person in the world.” Such are the beautiful scenarios of soccer.

Regardless of Real Madrid’s win, the scene right in front of you is truly a disgrace!

Just imagine—Arda Güler was the best player on the field against Espanyol today, to the point that he created seven chances—both from open play and set pieces—and managed to set up one goal; he would’ve set up a second if not for Bellingham’s header hitting the crossbar!

Then, in the 64th minute, Mourinho takes Arda Güler off first to bring on Diomande. Imagine—the team’s main driving force, the one who creates real scoring chances, is the first one to be subbed out. Things like this only happen at Real Madrid!

Unfortunately, Arda Güler is “being wronged at Real Madrid because of Vinícius, Mbappé, and Bellingham—some of the stars Pérez brings in to rake in advertising money. This has been going on since the Alonso days, and unfortunately, we’ll see it again because Diomande will start, and those three stars won’t accept sitting on the bench!

Arda Güler has been Real Madrid’s best player from last season until now, and unfortunately, he’s never been properly valued by the club—what a loss, what a huge loss!

I will certainly not, in all rationality, pass judgment on Konaté, his future, or his opponent—

it was Espanyol—but he put in a promising performance today.

The most important thing was that Konaté remained calm, without rushing or making reckless runs that leave gaps and put him in situations beyond his capabilities.

It’s only natural that Espanyol scored a goal—there was no anchor covering the space between the center of defense and the midfield to anticipate the play—so neither Konaté nor Huessin had anything to do with the goal.

Konaté had a great game covering the vast spaces

left behind by Dumfries after he pushed the line forward

and in terms of central defensive awareness—knowing the right moment to intervene and make a tackle.

Konaté was the top defender with 9 defensive contributions, 2 tackles, 1 interception, 5 clearances, 5 ball recoveries, and 8 successful duels, and he was never dribbled past.

I can’t wrap my head around how she had the chance to get 150 million euros

from Vinícius and get rid of a headache that’s lasted for years—and she turned it down!

With that amount, she could have bought a top center-back and resolved 80% of the team’s problems, and forgotten about the wing problem

At that point, Diomande would have shifted to left wing, and even with Bellingham there, it wouldn’t be a problem—Güler is an inside winger, but he’d have someone to help him.

Just imagine—even before Güler left, most of Real Madrid’s chances came from his side,

despite having a traditional winger and a “Wide 9” like Vinícius.

Who protects him? You don’t know… Why did Pérez give in to him specifically? You don’t know.

A winger who’s become ineffective in 1-on-1 situations—let alone against double coverage.

You can’t rely on him in the easiest and first league match… How are you going to rely on him on decisive Champions League nights? You don’t know.

He lost the ball while dribbling past so-and-so 15 times… How will he hold up against someone like Hakimi, for example?

He’s easy to rattle—that’s been the case for two years now with Real Madrid… I don’t know.

Is the solution to turn back time and bring back Benzema, or to ask for help from

the Avengers?

At Real Madrid, especially in the attacking third, put Arda Güler there, then put

any second player you want

The best player last season, and I expect him to be the best player

this season

And yet he was the first to be benched and treated unfairly because he has no

backing, no companies defending him, and no million-dollar sponsorships… The only one who let you easily reach Espanyol’s penalty area in the first half

He gave you everything… a series of dribbles from difficult, almost impossible positions… 7 clear-cut chances created, with 4 key passes,

an assist, 4 out of 4 long balls, 5 out of 7 duels won, and a brace

If I had to choose between Mbappé and Güler, I’d pick Güler first,

and the same goes for Vinícius, Bellingham—any name that comes to mind.

But as usual, he’s the easiest and the first player to be sacrificed.

Mourinho must find a way to permanently integrate Güler into the lineup, especially

in the deep midfield, or go to the media and say, “I can’t…” Impossible.

What’s been happening for two seasons at a club the size of Real Madrid remains unsolved.

If there were a real leader at Real Madrid, he’d bench Vinícius, move Mbappé to left wing, and throw Bellingham into the attack,

with constant position swaps—or even move Diomande to left wing—

while keeping Güler as an inside right winger.

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