Marca: Real Madrid’s defense is solid, keeping clean sheets in 6 of 12 games this season

According to Marca, Real Madrid has kept clean sheets in 6 of the 12 games this season, and only conceded more than 1 goal in the Madrid Derby.

Real Madrid has not conceded a goal in two consecutive games. Courtois has kept clean sheets against Getafe and Juventus. This is Real Madrid's sixth clean sheet in 12 games this season, including La Liga and Champions League games.

In the remaining 6 games, 5 games only conceded 1 goal. If it were not for the 5 goals scored in the Madrid Derby, this defensive data would be the best record in the history of Real Madrid.

Obviously, Alonso brought Real Madrid the defensive solidity that Ancelotti lacked when he coached last season. Although the team's style of play is not yet mesmerizing and it is not a goal machine, it has improved defensively.

However, Barcelona will be the best test of Real Madrid's defensive solidity next, to see if the Madrid Derby is just an accident.

In fact, despite scoring 5 goals in the Madrid Derby, Real Madrid is still one of the teams that conceded the fewest goals in La Liga. Only Alaves leads the way with eight goals conceded, while Osasuna, Athletic Bilbao and Elche also concede nine goals with Real Madrid. Barcelona has conceded 1 more goal than Real Madrid in 9 rounds of La Liga.

The key to change

Alonso believes that high pressing and high-intensity game rhythm can keep opponents away from Courtois' penalty area, thus reducing the risk of conceding the ball. Indeed, at Leverkusen, Alonso succeeded, not only in terms of defensive statistics, but also in terms of overall team performance, achieving historic results.

In the 2023-24 season, Alonso's Leverkusen only conceded 24 goals in 34 games throughout the season.

Alonso knows that to win the championship, he must concede as few goals as possible, especially in long-term events like the league. Along with the team effort, it was clear that the best Courtois was back.

Facing Getafe and Juventus, he made two saves to help the team avoid conceding goals. Although the five goals conceded in the Madrid derby affected Courtois's data, if you do not consider that derby, his performance even exceeded the data when he won the Zamora Award in the 2019-20 season. At that time, he conceded 20 goals in 34 league games and averaged only 0.58 goals per game.