Perhaps Solari doesn’t have all the answers
Real Madrid suffered a humbling away defeat to Eibar on Saturday afternoon, conceding three goals before the hour mark.
It was Madrid’s first league game since Santiago Solari was officially appointed as manager after a successful two week spell as interim boss.
During that fortnight, Madrid won four matches scoring 15 goals in total, but were brought back down to earth by Eibar, who cut through the European champions with ease.
Barcelona loanee Marc Cucurella caused all sorts of problems for Real Madrid, terrorising Álvaro Odriozola, whose heavy touch gifted Eibar their second goal.
The Basque side, whose stadium holds just 7,000 people, had only scored three goals against Real Madrid in their entire history before today. This afternoon, that tally doubled.
“By telling our story, we think football fans from other parts of the world will fall in love with us.”@SmnLlyd5 visited @LaLigaEN's smallest club, SD Eibar, to find out how they continue to battle the monsters of Spain's top flight. https://t.co/jSwJiogLNb
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 9, 2018
The first goal came after 16 minutes as Eibar broke down the left and a low cross fell to Gonzalo Escalante, who prodded the ball home to break the deadlock.
The referee consulted VAR, which confirmed that the goal should stand.
| GOAL! |
VAR awards the goal – Eibar lead against Real Madrid! 😮
Watch it LIVE on Eleven Sports 1… 👇 pic.twitter.com/u9wqM67g4B
— ELEVEN Football (@ElevenSportsFB) November 24, 2018
Eibar then doubled their lead after the break, when Sergi Enrich took advantage of some sloppy passing from Real Madrid in their own half.
| GOAAAAAAL! |
Eibar have doubled their lead! 😳
Real Madrid have never been beaten by Eibar… pic.twitter.com/8dHX8vaDnR
— ELEVEN Football (@ElevenSportsFB) November 24, 2018
The third and final goal of the afternoon was scored by Kike, who pounced onto a loose ball after Thibaut Courtois failed to collect a low cross, again.
https://twitter.com/ElevenSports_UK/status/1066322148749467649
You’d have been forgiven for thinking that Madrid’s run of form under Solari would continue, and the European champions were on track to return to winning ways. But evidently, there are still big problems to fix for Los Blancos, who sit below Espanyol and Deportivo Alaves in the LaLiga table.
Madrid face Roma in the Champions League midweek before welcoming Valencia to the Bernabéu next weekend.
Despite having won just two league games this season, with eight draws, Valencia will fancy their chances of taking home all three points after another lacklustre performance from Madrid this afternoon.