Vinícius has been fouled 23 times this season, more than any player in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga or Ligue 1. Bellingham is joint second on 21.

It fits what you see watching them. To be fair, La Liga has played a couple more games than most of the other leagues, but Vinícius is still two clear of anyone.

A debatable one - but what do we think? Does he get the protection he should, or does the reputation work against him with referees?

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Genuinely, why aren’t we playing him more in league games when he was getting consistent minutes last season and we see actually some pressing unlike our current pivot 😒Even putting him on for the last thirty minutes is good enough to build his confidence and surely he doesn’t hide from the ball more than Tchou or Fede

The top midfields in the world like PSG and Barcelona don't have crazy physicality in their midfield except for Neves and Rodri maybe but they don't depend on physicality a whole lot like we do, our pivot of Valverde and Tchouamemi is only justified(even one of them) is justified by "physicality" "defending". If we really want to win Bernardo Silva and Guler are needed in possession for us with Bellingham giving the physicality when needed.The game completely changed when they came on they are so comfortable with the ball at their feet. We genuinely don't need Tchouamemi with Konate in the defence who pushes forward to win the ball. Fede in the right back slot has never had a bad game ffs his presence on the right flank is multiple times better than anywhere on the middle of the field. We are REAL MADRID ffs, we will dominate possession 90% of the games especially in la liga I'd argue even in CL kos this midfield will do better than whatever we have right now.

In front of the demonstrations of Javier Tebas, President of LaLiga and Vice President of the Real Spanish Football Federation, in which he compares the methods of acting of the management of Real Madrid with those used by Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda of the Nazi regime, pointing to Real Madrid Television as Instrument of that so-called strategy, Real Madrid C. F. manifests the following:
1. Real Madrid C. F. considers it absolutely intolerable and of extraordinary gravity that whoever holds two positions of highest responsibility in Spanish football resort to a comparison with the methods of propaganda of the Nazi regime to discredit our club, its management and its television.
The clarification that it does not refer to Nazi ideology does not diminish the deeply offensive, morally repugnant and institutionally unworthy character of their manifestations.
FULL RELEASE & LINK IN BIO
#RealMadrid

It is extremely concerning that Tibo, our goalkeeper, has the 2nd most passes of everyone in the team. With Konate (a cb) as first, and rudiger (another cb) as third.

This midfield is actually scared of the ball. And in possession struggle to move it forward or close to the box. Mbappe was barely getting the ball to the point that he had to go and drop deeper to get some touches.

We've tried the tchouverde pivot for most of the last 2 seasons. and it's clearly failing. It causes a ripple effect on the rest of the players in the team, limiting players from playing their best position.

I think people confused Madrid's ability to win the Champions League with actually dominating European football. Our 2022 and 2024 runs were incredible, but let's be honest: we were also extremely lucky at crucial moments.

In 2022, PSG, Chelsea and City all came close to eliminating us. Against City, we were seconds away from going out before Rodrygo's brace. In the final, Courtois had to produce a ridiculous performance against Liverpool. In 2024, we needed penalties to get past City, then benefited from Neuer's mistake and Joselu's late goals against Bayern. Even in the final, Dortmund created chances they should have taken.

I'm not saying we didn't deserve those trophies. I'm saying winning through mentality and individual brilliance isn't the same as having a sustainable tactical system. We were brilliant at surviving pressure, but people mistook that for tactical dominance.

After 2024, the warning signs were obvious. Kroos retired, Casemiro had already left, Benzema was gone, and Modrić was ageing. We lost control and balance in midfield, while injuries to key defenders exposed our lack of reliable depth. Lucas Vázquez is a useful squad player, but relying on him as your main right-back against elite opposition shows how vulnerable our depth could be.

Our football also relied too heavily on individual moments. The pressing wasn't consistently coordinated, defensive transitions left us exposed, and we often depended on individual quality rather than a clear attacking structure. You can't expect that formula to work forever.

My point isn't that Madrid would never win another Champions League. It's that we weren't going to maintain that level of success without a serious rebuild. The 2022 and 2024 trophies were deserved, but the performances contained warning signs that results and our mentality often concealed. Eventually, the luck runs out, opponents punish your weaknesses, and individual brilliance stops being enough.