And so it begins. Real Madrid underwhelm, infuriate and flatter to deceive all their way to yet another European win in spite of themselves. This iteration of Real Madrid looked nothing like the team that won continental crown number 15 in June. Then again, this is a team that can look nothing like the kings of Europe all the way to the 89th minute of a Champions League final and still emerge victorious.
One could argue that a nebulous sense of destiny is a less reliable indicator of future European success than a defense that doesn't give up quite as many good chances to Stuttgart. That case, however, has been disproven often enough.
Still, about that defense anyway. It wasn't exactly encouraging, was it? It is one thing to allow your goal to come under siege once against unfamiliar but inferior opposition, another to have seemingly shrugged said team aside before letting them back into the contest. Even for Madrid, there might only be a finite number of goals written in the stars: Kylian Mbappe and Endrick marking their Champions League debuts in white with a goal, Antonio Rudiger spoiling the night for the team who gave him his professional debut.
If Madrid leave the gaps that pockmarked the Santiago Bernabeu when the Champions League games really matter, it is going to take a decade's worth of Joselus, Rodrygos and Benzemas to bail them out. The off-ball balance they need was nowhere to be seen. Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham might have all the dynamism to play as eights but too often their temptation was to drive forward in support of the front three. Stuttgart attacked their hosts with enough pace that the midfield retreat was not fast enough, far too many chances came to the Bundesliga side off cutbacks towards the second line of attackers or loose balls that Bellingham and Valverde ought to have been in place to contest.
Perhaps Valverde has spent too long being Madrid's driving force, whether from the right or central areas. Through the 70 minutes before he was tasked with the anchoring role when Luka Modric replaced Aurelian Tchouameni, the Uruguayan had no recoveries, no tackles attempted, no interceptions in his own third, one of four duels won. Bellingham's duel numbers might have been more impressive but his superior contributions were on the ball. He claimed that he and his teammates had pressed well "at times" those final two words doing a lot of lifting for a collective display from the more attack-minded players that saw them do little to win back the ball either in Stuttgart's third or their own.
"We gave up far too many chances," Bellingham acknowledged. "I thought we pressed well at times but as soon as they got past the initial line of pressure they always seemed to cause us problems."
It is one thing to be missing defensive output for your central midfield if you are getting help from the flanks. What Madrid got was limited. Rodrygo did not lack for effort in a manner reminiscent of year one Gareth Bale, chasing back continuously because Cristiano Ronaldo was not going to. He worked hard to plug gaps on Stuttgart's left flank, quietening the dangerous Maximilian Mittelstadt, but there was no such work on the opposite side. It was from there that a host of chances came, Jamie Leweling and Atakan Karazor finding space and time to slip passes into the box.
Interval adjustments from Carlo Ancelotti had an immediate effect on Madrid's stuttering attack. Perhaps he simply told his team to play more quick through passes like one in the first half from Jude Bellingham that only required a better first touch for Mbappe to be through. The Italian's ability to simplify cannot be overstated. Whatever he said it brought an immediate improvement in attack, Madrid piercing Stuttgart's high line at work.
Replacing Lucas Vazquez with Eder Militao didn't particularly tighten up the defense but no wonder. Madrid's problems weren't particularly their backline but the front five who were offering them so little support. The corner that led to Stuttgart's equalizer came in no small part because it was those in red on hand for second balls rather than a Bellingham, Valverde or Vinicius Junior.
Madrid didn't learn. Modric's introduction might have ensured he was on the pitch to drop a ball on Rudiger's head to restore the hosts' lead but this game could very easily have gone the other way. Courtois kept on bailing them out and right until the last kick of the ball, the European champions were clinging on, a breakaway goal ended in thundering fashion by Endrick resulting in a 3-1 defeat that was extremely tough on an impressive Stuttgart.
The holders might have built a dynasty on getting more than they deserve but you wouldn't want to spend the next 14 games dicing with danger as they were today. Perhaps their frontline is simply going to outscore any opponent it comes up against. You'd certainly fancy their chances even more if the Madrid attack was offering more in defense.
