La Liga 2019/20: 3 Talking Points - Villarreal 2-2 Real Madrid

Real Madrid lacking creativity

Casemiro proved to be an unlikely source of creative play for Real Madrid

There was the usual defensive frailty from Real Madrid. You could attribute it to a drop in confidence, as they lose out on tackles they would have successfully made before, find that they're unable to intercept the ball, and the second ball often finds the opponents feet before theirs. However, this is an issue and could perhaps resolve itself in time.

The more pressing issue, perhaps, is this side's lack of creativity in attack. The most likely sources of creating plays that would beat Villareal came from the full backs. Both Carvajal and Ferland Mendy made good runs and read the play well to contribut in attack.

The likes of Vinicius Jr. (who came off the bench), Lucas Vazquez, and to an extent Toni Kroos were lacking. Even Casemiro chipped in with a few good diagonals, but the cutting edge from a lot of the players was missing.

It could be a problem remedied by the return of Eden Hazard from injury, but Real Madrid may not want to get overly reliant on the Belgian.