José Vicente Hernáez, the well-known writer and critic at the Spanish newspaper "Marca", pressed his finger on the open wound inside Real Madrid after their harsh 2-1 defeat to Atlético in the Madrid derby, tackling the crisis gripping Los Merengues in his usual candid style.
In a sharp opinion piece following the fall against Atlético Madrid, Hernáez dissected the doubts hanging over the start of Los Merengues' season. The attacking display at the Bernabéu, he argued, is nothing but a ruse concealing a footballing failure away from home.
His pointed criticism landed on coach José Mourinho, who arrived to erase the disappointments of the past yet fell into the same trap.
Mourinho himself had rounded on the officials after the 1-2 defeat to hosts Atlético Madrid in the top clash of the seventh round of the Spanish league, insisting the Rojiblancos should have finished the first half with two players sent off.
The text of the article was as follows:
True. They score plenty of goals at the Bernabéu, but titles (at least the league title) are decided away from home.
And away from the Bernabéu, this Madrid side is testing the patience of its supporters. No, it simply is not working at all.
They beat Espanyol with a goal from Carlos Espí after regular time had ended. The same thing happened at Elche, where they squandered a two-goal lead and Espí again had to save the situation.
Then came defeat to Real Betis, against whom they could not even manage a single goal. And now they lose at the Wanda Metropolitano to Atlético Madrid, who could have made matters far worse through their dissatisfaction at leading by two clear goals, and on top of all that, Atlético struggled hard to stay in the match even though Real Madrid were down to ten men.
It is true that Real Madrid's ordeal at the Wanda Metropolitano began with a mistake by Huijsen. His poor positioning conceded a penalty that gave Atlético Madrid a 1-0 lead, and it also earned him his dismissal.
That left the side in a critical position, trailing 1-0, playing with ten men, and looking utterly beaten. Atlético Madrid were on the verge of easing off, content to enjoy the chants of the Wanda Metropolitano crowd. That saved Real Madrid from a bigger catastrophe.
What would have happened had Huijsen not committed that error? We will never know, but Real Madrid had posed no notable threat to Oblak up to that point.
Even the possible red card that Cuti Romero escaped after stepping on Bellingham's knee is not an acceptable excuse. The truth is that Real Madrid were not playing to win the match.
In short: Mourinho arrived on Real Madrid's bench hoping to erase the memory of the past two seasons, but he has not managed it. Yes, they win emphatically at the Santiago Bernabéu despite their drop in performance in the second half, but the league has only just begun, and they sit six points behind the leaders. And by the way, comparisons are pointless.
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