There is no worse silence in football than the one left by a goal that does not come. Real Madrid left Vallecas without that shout that disguises problems and makes doubts disappear. For the first time in this LaLiga season, the white team failed to score, and it did so at the worst possible moment: just when it was beginning to show signs of flight after the Clasico. The break comes as a necessary rest, but also as an uncomfortable mirror. Kylian Mbappe makes a circus shot next to Vinícius Júnior Here it is difficult to take the game to the field that one wants, I do not blame it on the emotional peaks Xabi Alonso Neither football nor punch... and the feeling that there are still things missing to be able to get going. The goalless draw against Rayo Vallecano confirms that Xabi Alonso's side are going through a rough patch that cannot be explained solely by a lack of finishing. The team does not play badly, but neither does it play well. They dominate, but do not hurt. And when you don't have a cutting edge, one that has always accompanied Mbappe, the problems grow. A crushing 52.94% that hits Real Madrid and opens the debate From Anfield to Vallecas, the journey has been short, but the wear and tear has been enormous in a black week for Real Madrid. In England, Courtois had to play the hero to avoid a thrashing at the hands of Liverpool; in Vallecas, the white team generated little, and what little they had was repeatedly thwarted by Stole Dimitrievski. "It's hard to take the game where you want it to go, I don't put it down to emotional highs and lows. La Liga is game by game and today we couldn't win," said the Basque coach after the game. Mbappe, as expected, was the reflection of Real Madrid's impotence. He touched only 27 balls in 90 minutes and barely left a mark. His scoring streak (13 goals in 12 games) was extinguished and he was left two games short of equalling Cristiano Ronaldo's legendary record in 2014/15. Vallecas swallowed up the Frenchman and left Real Madrid without a beacon, one who has scored 18 of the 34 goals that Real Madrid have scored to date. A staggering 52.94% of the team's goals have been scored by the Frenchman, a statistic that highlights the 'Mbappe dependence' to keep the new project on its feet. Two games without scoring (four in total out of the 16 he has played), two slip-ups... and the feeling that if the number 10 does not appear, everything seems much more complicated. To put it in context, Cristiano Ronaldo's best goalscoring season at Real Madrid (61 goals) was 'only' 38.61% of Real Madrid's 154 goals that season. Lionel Messi follows the same path: 29.46% with his 73 goals of the 185 that Barcelona scored. More questions than answers The problem, however, is collective. The numbers say that Madrid have had more than 20 shots in each of their last five La Liga games, something that has not happened since 2010 under Pellegrini. But the statistics are misleading. Of those shots, very few are with intent, with conviction, with real danger. Against Rayo, there were just five shots on target, none with enough bite to alter the scoreboard. And so the pattern repeats itself: sterile possession, predictable attacks, little movement and too much reliance on Vinicius to break lines. The Brazilian was again the only spark capable of shaking up the game, but without a partner to accompany his electricity, his talent ends up isolated among rival legs. Xabi Alonso, who had managed to steady the ship after the Clasico, finds himself facing the same questions again. The break will be a time to breathe and reflect. Xabi Alonso has work to do where the main concern is the need to regain freshness in the final third, to reconnect with his strikers and, above all, to restore the confidence that the group seemed to have just two weeks ago. The goals will come again, but Madrid cannot sit back and wait. For now, they are left dry. No goals, no smiles and more questions than answers.
