Boredom and absent solutions: Real Madrid stuck in a vicious circle

Real Madrid's problem lay not in having the ball but in using it. They lacked cohesion between the lines, too often skipping the passing phases of their build-up and relying on individual bursts to carry the ball forward. Without that cohesion, Arda Guler never found enough space to dictate play and set the rhythm.

The first-half numbers tell part of the story. Real managed one shot on target from five attempts and created a single clear-cut chance, according to ESPN statistics. Their threat hinged almost entirely on what Mbappe and Diomande could conjure alone. The Frenchman was well below his best, perhaps blunted by the break and the injury, while the Ivorian at least struck his first goal to win the game.

Villarreal needed no control of their own to trouble their hosts. Their organisation smothered Real's attacks, and their forward movements, particularly down the left, carved out a few openings into the final third. Courtois, though, was always there in time.

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Real Madrid came out sharper after the break, and the substitutions injected fresh energy into the attack. Diomande shifted into a more influential role on the flank. Guler found space in deeper areas, while Vinicius arrived to add dribbling and the ability to break the opponent's lines.

They opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, a goal that showed what an individual spark can do once it finds the right space. Valverde surged down the right and fed Diomande, who controlled smartly before firing into the bottom corner. The referee flagged it offside, but video technology overturned the call and the goal stood.

Better movement and attacking boldness had produced the breakthrough. It did not prove Real Madrid had found their collective answers. The side needed a direct run and space in behind to crack the deadlock, having gone long stretches without carving out a clear chance from a fully developed attack.

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Vinícius gave Real Madrid a clear attacking boost, but the action that earned his sending-off left the team under pressure just as the advantage was tilting towards the hosts. For around 20 minutes, Real Madrid played with ten men and shelved much of their attacking ambition to protect the lead. Credit to the players for the cohesion they showed in seeing out the result, yet that does not erase the limitations of what came before the goal.

Responsibility does not rest solely with Vinícius's action or the refereeing decisions either. Both shaped the match, but neither explains why Mourinho's Real Madrid only win through individual moments after a struggle.

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The international break was supposed to give Mourinho a chance to fix the flaws that had crept into previous matches. The Villarreal clash exposed no clear shift in attacking build-up, the role of the midfield, or the team's ability to impose its own rhythm.

If the manager wants his players to disrupt the opponent's possession, he must also hand them clear mechanisms for building attacks once they win the ball back. That does not happen under Mourinho. He still cannot harness his players' abilities within a system that gives them clear roles, and this current Real Madrid appears to lean on names more than a settled collective shape. 

Real Madrid took all three points and dug in defensively after the sending-off. Yet after three weeks of preparation, the same picture returned: slowness in transition, a midfield that does not impose its control, an attack waiting for an individual solution, then a retreat to protect the result. Mourinho's running saga of complaints about the officiating, even when justified, will keep covering up what he really ought to be doing. From here the essential question arises: can Mourinho, in his current guise, truly change Real Madrid and its "zero" reality, or will he keep sinking in a spiral of tactical impotence and dull, muddled performances?

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