“The monster was” – Ex-Real Madrid player reacts to derby defeat

Real Madrid are still dealing with the fallout from Saturday’s humbling Madrid derby defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid. There has been many reactions to the performance from Xabi Alonso’s side at the RiyadhAir Metropolitano, with the latest coming from one of their former players.

Jorge Valdano, who earned cult hero status at the Santiago Bernabeu during his four-year spell at Real Madrid in the 1980s, reacted to the Madrid derby defeat on Movistar+ (via MD). He went along with others that it was an eerily familiar feeling for Los Blancos.

“The monster was revived, that one when you visited Barcelona or were visited by Barcelona and four goals fell. It is true that it is a process and that a new coach arrived. He is working and it seemed that things were starting to straighten out, and the blow against Atlético Madrid forces us to review the moment of the project. Atlético ended up subduing Real Madrid in a way that we haven’t seen for a long time.”

Valdano critical of Real Madrid “lack of intensity”

Valdano also believed that his former side were nowhere near as intense in their performance on Saturday as they should have been.

“Real Madrid did not play with the same intensity as Atletico Madrid. In the first minutes Real Madrid played on their feet and also without too much rhythm. And Atletico played in space with a lot of aggressiveness. The top match was clearly won by Atletico. Each cross was a drama, a real drama for Real Madrid.”

It has been a good start to the Alonso era for Real Madrid, but this is a big setback. Lessons must be learned for the coming months, during which there will be a number of big matches – none more so than El Clasico in October.