Real Madrid’s offensive talent need to step up their performances

Since the start of the 2019/20 season, Real Madrid have struggled to find a reliable goalscorer within their squad despite their depth of offensive players.

The club has played in 20 matches where the game finished as a draw or was decided by one goal and the tight score lines aren’t good enough if they want to win titles this year.

Out of the clubs 46 goals, 32 have come from open play, six from set pieces and five from the spot. The team bears a goal difference of +29 in all competitions thanks to the strong performances from Thibaut Courtois.

At the moment, Karim Benzema currently leads the club with 18 goals scored but hasn’t found the back of the net since the club’s 1-0 win against Atletico on Feb. 1 (a month ago to the day).

Sergio Ramos (7), Rodrygo (7), Toni Kroos (5) and Luka Modric (5) come after the Frenchman and currently make up the clubs top five contributors. What a list, right? Two forwards, a defender and two midfielders. Who would’ve thought these would be the players to score for Madrid when they have such a plethora of talent.

When you continue to look down the list, Casemiro comes afterwards with four, still ahead the likes of Raphael Varane, Vinicius Junior, Isco, Lucas Vazquez and Gareth Bale who all hold three to their name.

Zinedine Zidane’s decision to try playing matches with different formations can be one criticism for the lack of goals. In the past, the French head coach usually opted for playing with a 4-3-3 but due to a rotating squad and injuries leaving players out for weeks, the staff had to look into different options.

The changes, however, can sometimes limit the way the team moves on the pitch. According to WhoScored.com, most of the time the team keeps the ball in the middle (43%) and when watching a game it’s not uncommon to see just one or two players up top. This obviously limits the team’s offensive abilities.

Looking at the back half of the season, this next week is make or break for Real Madrid and the club needs to ask more of the players at the bottom half of the list.

They currently sit second in La Liga, two points behind Barcelona so today’s El Clasico at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu will be of more importance than usual. Up next are matches against Real Betis and Eibar and then a crucial second leg against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League.

Vinicius, Vazquez, Bale and even Isco all have the enough talent to help the team in attack and need to start putting their chances away. Getting Mariano Diaz, who currently sits on zero goals, and Luka Jovic (2) on the score sheet in the future would be great as well.