Real Madrid players and staff hold key meeting: the inside story

The great Real Madrid sit-down is underway. This is not the one scheduled for Sunday morning in Valdebebas, led by Florentino Pérez and attended by the club’s delegates, but the one that has taken place in the first team dressing room over the past few hours.

Karim Benzema recently told AS what he believed needed to happen for Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid to function better. The players have taken his advice seriously. The doubts that surfaced after the match against Rayo Vallecano, highlighted by the obvious gestures on the pitch, exposed a lack of understanding within the starting eleven. The squad has reacted by seeking a collective solution.

Mbappé, Vinicius and Bellingham know they need to understand one another, divide roles and responsibilities, and they have done just that. Essentially, each player is focusing on what they do best. Their relationship has been good, but clarifying each other’s roles was a crucial step, one that, according to the French striker now at Al Ittihad, helped him lead the team during his Madrid career.

On the squad’s return to training, the manager reinforced the message of recovering what was lost after the Clásico at the Bernabéu, namely the solidarity that pushed the team to fight, press and run at a level not seen for a long time. This was missing in Liverpool and Vallecas, something that concerned the coach, who has had several days to reflect, identify the problem and perhaps find the solution.

A year ago, Carlo Ancelotti had to resort to similar meetings to restore the team’s competitive edge. He even used video footage, something the current coach uses frequently, despite not being particularly fond of it, adopting the method out of necessity. The reaction arrived, but it was short-lived. Xabi hopes that this time it leads to something more lasting than a temporary improvement.