Mallorca 1-0 Real Madrid: 5 talking points as Los Blancos suffer first league defeat | La Liga 2019/20

#4 Injuries take their toll on Madrid; lack of depth cruelly exposed

Real Madrid CF v Granada CF - La Liga

Real Madrid entered this clash with as many as seven first-team players sidelined due to various injuries. Their midfield, which has so often been the source of their inspiration, lacked any sort of cohesion in the absence of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.

Casemiro looks like a shadow of the player he was a couple of seasons ago, while Isco put in yet another disastrous performance in a Madrid shirt, against Mallorca.

Without Kroos and Modric to control the tempo of the midfield and help build attacks from deep, Madrid often looked short of ideas in the middle of the park. The absence of Gareth Bale and Lucas Vazquez also impacted Los Blancos, who lacked creativity in the final third.

Their bench also looked woefully short on experience - with the three substitutes Zinedine Zidane turned to, all under the age of 22. It's experience and squad depth that wins titles and Madrid clearly lack that at the moment.

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#5 Vinicius wasteful; Jovic invisible

RCD Mallorca v Real Madrid CF - La Liga

Much has been said about the Vinicius Jr.-Luka Jovic combination for Real Madrid and what it can mean for the club's future.

The Brazilian is considered one of the most precocious talents in world football at the moment, while the Serb, who arrived at Madrid in a much-hyped move from Eintracht Frankfurt this past summer, was expected to ease the goalscoring burden off Karim Benzema's shoulders.

While Vinicius has shown flashes of his talent, he has failed to deliver on a consistent basis. Against Mallorca, he once again sparkled on occasion but lacked a cutting edge. He was one of Madrid's only bright spots in a dismal first-half performance, but his naivety in the final third proved to be his undoing.

Despite carving out chances for himself courtesy some mazy dribbles, Vinicius failed to test the Mallorca keeper on at least three different occasions in the opening period. The second half was no different as the Brazilian often found himself in promising positions but failed to hit the target.

As for Jovic, the less said about his performance the better. The Serb was invisible for the 60-odd minutes he was on the pitch, failing to link up with his teammates or create chances of his own. Jovic is yet to score in a Madrid shirt and time is running out quickly.

0 - Against Mallorca, Luka Jovic failed to register a single shot and a single touch in the oppositte box. Disconnection. pic.twitter.com/tEjYLLTPz4

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) October 19, 2019