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Real Madrid's poor run of form in pre-season continued, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final of the Audi Cup.
A 22nd minute goal from Harry Kane was enough to settle the contest, and Zinedine Zidane would have been disappointed with the performance of hs wards, especially coming off the back of an even more harrowing 7-3 defeat to Atletico Madrid.
This was Real Madrid's second consecutive defeat - third defeat from four preseason fixtures - and is a far cry from the side which is expected to challenge on all fronts next season.
Though no pushovers themselves, Real Madrid's history, massive investments over the summer, and the disgraceful defeat to Atletico Madrid meant the Liga giants were expected to win this fixture, but that failed to happen.
In this piece, we shall be highlighting three reasons why Real Madrid fell to a defeat to Tottenham.
#3 Madrid were outclassed in midfield
In the last five years, the Real Madrid midfield has distinguished itself as arguably the best on the planet. Casemiro, Luka Modric, and Toni Kroos all played significant roles in bringing three consecutive Champions League trophies to the Bernabeu.
However, nothing lasts forever, and the once immaculate midfield of Real Madrid has started to show signs of mortality. There were glimpses of this last season, but it has been very glaring during pre-season, with the game against Totttenham serving as the latest example.
Tanguy N'dombele and Harry Winks totally bossed proceedings in the middle of the park, limiting Kroos and Modric to merely spectators in a first half that was entirely dominated by Tottenham.
Though Casemiro has been absent due to his extended break, his return would only improve Real Madrid's fortunes a little. After so many years of top-level performance, Kroos and Modric are no longer the players they were, and Real Madrid could well step up their pursuit of Paul Pogba in the coming days.
#2 Madrid were ineffective in attack
To state that Real Madrid's attack was atrocious against Tottenham would be putting it mildly, as over the course of 90 minutes, they failed to do too much and rarely troubled either Hugo Lloris or Paul Gazzaniga in the Spurs goal.
To put this in context, at full-time, stats revealed that Real Madrid had 22 shots, and while this might look impressive, the harrowing fact of the matter is that just two of those were on target.
In essence, in 90 minutes, Tottenham's goalkeepers had to make just two saves and this is a rather poor output from a side boasting the services of Eden Hazard, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jr, but to name a few.
Last season, Real Madrid suffered primarily because they did not score goals and this was the reason why so much was spent to bring in Eden Hazard and Luka Jovic to the Bernabeu, but the goals have not been flowing in pre-season as was expected.
#3 Overall, Tottenham were the better team
Throughout history, Real Madrid have made a name for themselves as a side that achieves immense success without any discernible teamwork, rather focusing on getting the best individualistic performers and putting them together.
It is a method which has worked for them overtime, so this is not an attempt to disparage their style.
By contrast, Tottenham's success in recent years has not been impacted by any star player, but by a close-knit squad with team spirit who have fully imbibed the playing pattern of their manager.
This was evident in full glare against Real Madrid, as the progression of the match highlighted the differences in their patterns.
Whereas Real Madrid struggled to show cohesion and team balance, Tottenham were very much the superior side, dictating the tempo of the game and getting Real Madrid to play on their terms.
They were totally dominant almost from start to finish, with their only lax period coming in the first 15 minutes of the second half which was understandable given the flurry of changes that had been made at the break.
Tottenham bossed Real Madrid in almost all departments, leading their Spanish counterparts in shots on target (9 to 2), possession (53% to 47%), total passes (519 to 462) and pass accuracy (89% to 88%).
Overall, Tottenham were the better team than Real Madrid and the end result was a fair reflection of the match (although Spurs could have gotten some more goals).
