Real Madrid Can't Afford to Dwell on Recent Setback

After Real Madrid's stumble last Friday against Real Betis at La Cartuja, their unbeaten streak in LaLiga has been cut short, and for now they are left waiting to see how their main competitor in the race for the championship, Barcelona, fares. The Catalan club will visit Valencia on Sunday at Mestalla, in what promises to be a high-intensity clash, knowing that if they win, they will begin to pull away alone in first place.

Meanwhile, those from Chamartín must clear their minds and begin to focus on their next rival, Inter Milan. This match will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 8, marking Real Madrid's debut in the 2026/27 Champions League. Their rival comes in with a mental boost, as on Saturday they came back from 0-2 down against Napoli, with a brace from Lautaro Martinez and a goal from Marcus Thuram; the Nerazzurri won 3-2, reached second place in Serie A, and will arrive motivated at the Bernabeu.

Jose Mourinho's team cannot afford a second consecutive defeat, and even less so to start the tournament without adding points. With the new competition system, finishing in the top four places in the table is crucial to gain the advantage of closing at home during the knockout phase. We know that does not guarantee advancement to the next round, but it is a plus worth having.

'Mou' needs his key players to wake up between now and Tuesday, because against Betis, Kylian Mbappe missed several goal-scoring opportunities in front of the goalkeeper (and once even without a goalkeeper); he also couldn't convert the penalty. Vinicius Junior looked erratic in attack; he won the penalty and hit the post, but in tight matches, these stars are most needed to step up.

The good news is that Dean Huijsen and Arda Guler are showing their best form. While the defender looks dominant in his area, with great aggression when cutting ground or winning aerial balls, and an excellent ability to filter balls to the forwards, the Turk also showed great agility, was highly involved, and made a great goal-scoring pass to Vini during last Friday's match. Unfortunately, the Brazilian could not put it into the net.

We have no doubt it will be an electrifying match. Inter will carry the momentum from their Serie A victory, while Real Madrid will want to correct the errors they made in Seville and excite their fans once again. At the same time, neither of the two European titans wants to drop points in the first match of the competition, so they will go all out to take the victory.