Real Madrid’s defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni picked up La Liga’s official ‘Man of the Match’ award on Saturday evening as he helped his team beat Real Betis 2 - 1 at home.

Tchouameni was a stand out, as he made several great defensive reads, protected his backline, and was very good on the ball as well.

On the ball

Tchouameni had 92 touches in this game, and though he played as the team’s anchor, as you can see below, the bulk of his touches came in Betis’s half:

Tchouameni’s 92 touches were the second most of anyone on the field (Sergio Canales had the most with 96), and he looked pretty comfortable on the ball as well. The Frenchman completed 89.2% of his 65 passes. He looked smooth on the ball:

On defense

On the defensive end, Tchouameni really shined. He was so good at popping up in all the right spots to make sure Real Betis don’t get into Real Madrid’s box. On the night, the French midfielder had a game-high seven tackles as well as a game-high three interceptions. In addition, he also made a bit of (recent) history, and did something that hasn’t been done since Sergio Ramos was still wearing the great white shirt:

It’s safe to say, Tchouameni has integrated into the team pretty smoothly so far.