Real Madrid defender’s rare goal contribution comes to nought in defeat to Real Betis | OneFootball

Real Madrid were unable to keeping pace with their two La Liga rivals, Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona, as they fell to the third position on the league table following a highly disappointing defeat at the hands of Real Betis.

Having already lost 10 points in only the last month, with this loss, the Merengues lost further precious points in a very tight title race, which can undoubtedly come to haunt them by the time the league ends.

However, the match against the Andalusian side also saw one Real Madrid defender break a very long drought. This defender was none other than Ferland Mendy, who provided the assist for the only goal scored by the Merengues on the night.

Kylian Mbappe put in a precise pass for the French defender to receive very near to the opposition goal. Mendy was in a very good position to take a shot himself, but the on-rushing goalkeeper had the goal well covered, and there was a high chance that his shot would be saved.

In such a scenario, the Frenchman showed great vision and decision-making skills as he found an advancing Brahim Diaz in a crowded box, and the Moroccan international made no mistake as he put the ball into an empty net.

This was Mendy’s first assist in 867 days, as FBREF data shows the last time the defender had created a goal was in the La Liga game against Barcelona in the 2022-23 season. That assist was provided for a goal by Federico Valverde to open the scoring in the 35th minute, on October 15th, 2022.

In total, the Frenchman has provided only 9 assists in his six seasons since joining Real Madrid in 2019. Six of these assists have come in La Liga and three in the UEFA Champions League. Interestingly, he went through the whole La Liga and UCL-winning 2023-24 season without registering even a single assist.

His most productive match in this regard was the away leg of the semi-final of the 2021-22 UCL against Manchester City, as he provided two assists, for Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior, in that game.

Meanwhile, Mendy has also been quite frugal with goals, as he has scored only 6 goals in his Real Madrid career, 4 in La Liga, and one apiece in the Spanish Super Cup and the UCL.

It has also been more than a year since he scored his last goal, which came in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Atletico Madrid on January 10th, 2024.

Thus, the match against Real Betis was one of the rare events in which the Frenchman made a direct goal contribution. Unluckily, the final result did not come out in his team’s favour, but this assist goes on to show the improving form of the Real Madrid fullback.