("How poorly Madrid are defending.")

Espanyol 0-3 Real Madrid
0-1 Granero, 39’
0-2 Guti, 77’
0-3 Ronaldo, 90’

This was a constant refrain from the Spanish language announcers and the theme of most of the match, as the Merengues struggled to hold their nerve at the back, occasionally looking as porous as SpongeBob Square Pants in defense. It should be noted that two of the team’s first choice defenders – Pepe and Sergio Ramos – were out of the line-up, which will take its toll on any squad. But with two Spanish internationals deputizing for them, in Albiol and Arbeloa, Madrid have little to complain about. Regardless of any caveats about missing players, though, the key word for this game was “composure,” which was sorely lacking over much of the pitch against Espanyol.

Despite the clear gap in quality (and paychecks) between the two teams, Espanyol were easily the better side for much of the game. Aside from a bad miss that Metzelder sent over the crossbar, the Periquitos had the best chances in the game’s early stages. Casillas prevented his side from going 1-0 down inside the first half hour when he saved Moises Hurtado’s shot from close range. Hurtado only had such a clear-cut opportunity because of horrible defending by Madrid, who left Luis Garcia completely unmarked near the back post, allowing him a free header back in front of goal to the waiting Hurtado. Fortunately for Los Blancos, Iker’s legs bailed them out and kept the scoreline even. Soon thereafter, Raul Tamudo narrowly missed getting his head onto an Ivan Alonso cross after some more shaky defending.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, they struck, on a lovely little one-two between Kaka and Granero. El Pirata, who was brilliant all game, secured the ball nicely, dropped it off to Kaka, then darted into the box to receive the return pass and blast it past Kameni. It was very similar to the first goal against Deportivo in Jornada 1, when Madrid suddenly found their attacking boots on a double-nutmeg pass by Kaka to a streaking Benzema. That time, the post intervened and Raul was required to clean up the rebound. This time, Granero made no mistake with the shot to give his side the advantage.

The second came only after numerous chances for Espanyol to equalize, when Kaka dribbled around three defenders on the left, got his nose out in front, and laid it off for Guti to slot home. It was a lovely play by Kaka, who looks to be the team’s most important creative player so far. And finally, substitute Cristiano Ronaldo got his first goal from open play for the team when Guti played a perfect through ball to the world’s most expensive (and most precisely coiffed) football player. Ronaldo streaked with it down the right hand side and coolly put the ball between Kameni’s legs for the goal. It was once again refreshing to see his joy and relief at scoring for his new team, as his new price tag has appeared to weigh on him since arriving in Spain. A couple more goals like that, and those worries will be a thing of the past, like his relationship with Sir Alex at the end of his ManU tenure.

So in the end, they got the goals and outclassed an opponent they had every right to beat, but they made it as nerve-wracking as possible along the way. I couldn’t count how many times I grimaced as a ball rolled past numerous Madrid defenders or an Espanyol player dribbled with ease into the heart of the defense. They looked quite unorganized and, consequently, exceedingly vulnerable to the counterattack. At times, even clearing the ball became an exercise in futility and difficult to watch. It was more Espanyol’s profligacy in front of goal than Madrid’s defense that kept them off the scoreboard, but I suppose they’ll take a clean sheet any way they can get it.

In their first two games, Real Madrid have shown both how high they can go and how much they still have to do to attain such heights consistently. That tricky bit of composure is still clearly lacking, and it hurts the defense more than the offense. They have enough astronomical talent in the attack to come out with little unity or plan and still score goals. The back line is not quite so blessed with riches, but even if it were, defense is another proposition altogether. Individual stars can do little on their own to shut down an opponent, instead requiring a coherent system to which all subscribe in order to excel. It is this system which Madrid lacks at this point, and it is this which Pellegrini must correct, and soon, if he wants to content with Barcelona (and keep his job).

To be fair, this is an entirely understandable predicament for a team that was hastily assembled over the summer and which tends to feature between five and eight new faces in the starting eleven. They were always going to need time to gel, and as long as they are winning, they will probably be granted leniency from the demanding home fans. With lots of players resting due to international action midweek and a looming Champions League clash, they were also fielding somewhat of a B team – if such a term can be applied to a line-up that features the likes of Kaka, Benzema, and Xabi Alonso, but you get the picture. San Iker may just be enough to save them until they get their act together, but this can only go on for so long and the defensive deficiencies cannot be bailed out indefinitely by offensive firepower. At some point, Real Madrid are going to have to learn how to defend. I suspect that with time and the return of some much needed familiar faces, they will settle into their roles and play at least competently together, which is not something that could be said about them in this performance.

Álvaro Arbeloa recently completed a return move to his childhood club Real Madrid for €4 million. While deserved attention went to the second-generation galácticos Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, and Karim Benzema, Real Madrid also made transactions that do not rate high on sex appeal yet realign the glaring weakness behind its disappointing last season.

For the majority of the season, Real Madrid’s defensive line consisted of Sergio Ramos at right back, Pepe and Fabio Cannavaro in central defense, and Gabriel Heinze at left back. Others who contributed to the defense included left backs Marcelo and Royston Drenthe, central defender Christoph Metzelder, and right backs Miguel Torres and Michel Salgado.

Perusing the raw numbers produced by the Real Madrid defense, it gave up fifty-two goals in thirty-eight games, which finished seventh in La Liga. For a club that sees itself as one of the elite, seventh position simply will not make the grade. What skews its total goals allowed is the astonishing performance of goalkeeper Iker Casillas. As one of the top goalkeepers in Europe, people expect him to play at a high level, but during Madrid’s torrid streak after the first Barcelona meeting in December until the second meeting in May, one goal decided eight of their matches, including six matches that ended 1-0. Even during the 6-2 mauling by Barcelona at the Bernabéu, Casillas had seven saves and probably kept Madrid from giving up eight or nine.

While Casillas was the highlight of the defense, most of the other defenders did not perform up to their capabilities. Sergio Ramos played a sufficient right back, but there were more than a few instances where his lack of focus contributed to schoolboy errors in the back. Pepe had a solid season but marred his reputation by his undisciplined and inexcusable outbursts against Getafe, leading to a ten match ban, including the last six matches of the season. Fabio Cannavaro was a shell of himself and clearly lost a step as forwards continually outmuscled and outpaced him.

The same could be said for Gabriel Heinze as right-sided players frequently went through and around Heinze. Marcelo apparently did not get the memo that part of his responsibility as a left back was to mark offensive players. He performed well when he bombed down the left flank, but too many times, his effervescence caught him out of position, leaving his zonal area completely open for the opposition to work the space how they wished. He eventually lost his starting position to Gabriel Heinze, but Real Madrid later reformed him as a left midfielder, a position more naturally suited to his set of skills. Royston Drenthe gave mediocre performances in the first half of the season, and when the Madridistas started to show their disapproval of him, he could not handle the negativity and hardly played for the rest of the season. Christoph Metzelder spent much of his time in the training room, Miguel Torres showed promise but made mistakes as a young player, and Michel Salgado was old.

The acquisition of Raúl Albiol for €15 million shores up the central defense with a highly regarded international defender who is only 23 years old. Álvaro Arbeloa gave a solid two seasons for Liverpool as the starting right back who could also play a competent left back. If Arbeloa did not openly express his desire to move back to Spain, there was a decent chance that Liverpool would not have involved themselves in the Glen Johnson sweepstakes. With Iker Casillas in goal, Sergio Ramos on the right, Pepe and Raúl Albiol in the center, and Álvaro Arbeloa on the left, this defense should be vastly improved from last year’s debacle. Real Madrid scored 83 goals in the previous season, and the added superpower to the club indicates that offense should not be the issue in their quest to dethrone Barcelona in any or all three competitions this season. If the added defensive pieces fit the back line puzzle, Real Madrid should have at least one piece of silverware at the end of the 09-10 season.