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Against Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos set a new La Liga record. He was sent off for the 19th time in the league and a total of 24 in all competitions throughout his career.
This isn't a statistic which will surprise people considering his temperament. It topped off a miserable night for Los Blancos as they came away from San Mamés with a 0-0 draw.
Due to his red card being as a result of two yellow cards, Ramos will only be suspended for the game against Sevilla at the weekend.
However, this is a big game and Real does not have a great record at home this season, so his absence will be a big loss. His red card dominated the headlines regarding this match, and it accurately represents the difference between Real this season and last season.
This season, Ramos has received two red cards in 12 league appearances with one assist and no goals to his name. In contrast to this, he only picked up one red card last season and scored seven goals in 28 appearances.
Usually, goals aren't important for a central defender, but he has a knack for scoring big goals such as the equalizer against Barcelona at Camp Nou last year.
Under Zinedine Zidane, Los Blancos have relied on individual brilliance and fluidity between their key creative players to bring them success.
Isco was a great example of this because the 4-4-2 diamond formation was built around him and he had the freedom to roam in order to create overloads. This worked brilliantly when they were confident because it gave them an almost unbeatable mentality where they believed they could win regardless of the consequences.
They are unable to replicate that success this season because they lack the confidence in the style they play. Opposition managers started to realize that crossing and set-pieces were Real's 'Plan B' if they couldn't unlock a tight defence.
Valencia, Levante, and Real Betis all came up with game plans to deal with this and were able to come away from the Santiago Bernabéu with results. This took away Real's confidence which has impacted their cohesiveness and this is key to how they play.
Key players have been unable to deal with the added responsibilities, and the lack of a tactical system to support them means that results have suffered.
The game against Athletic Bilbao is a perfect example because Sergio Ramos negatively impacted the game by getting sent off, whereas, last season Real came away with 2-1 victories in both fixtures.
Cristiano Ronaldo is another example of the team's dismal run because he has only scored twice in ten league games, and is failing to make the decisive contributions like last season.
The major difference compared to last season is that the main players are failing to deliver in the tight games. They scored in every game last season, but have already failed to score in three games this year.
Barcelona is eight points ahead of them in the league, so it looks like the Copa del Rey and the Champions League are the only potential avenues of success.
However, they couldn't even finish top of their Champions League group with Tottenham beating them to it. Things look bleak for Real currently and they must find a way to turn it around as soon as possible.
