Real Madrid lost their two best center backs this season two torn ACLs. Éder Militão, arguably the best in the world, went down at the beginning of the season, while David Alaba got injured in the winter.
Despite losing these two players for the remainder of the campaign, Florentino Pérez decided against signing a center back in January, much to the disappointment of Madridistas – and potentially Carlo Ancelotti.
Yet the decision may have worked out for Madrid. They avoided spending on an unnecessary player, and the defense, to this point of the season, has been the best-performing in the history of the Club.
Along the way, they have been buoyed by a particular player who has been performing so well in central defense he just might be the top performer in all of LaLiga at this moment in time.
Aurélien Tchouaméni is not a center back by trade. He joined Real Madrid in 2022 as a top defensive midfield signing from Monaco, more than filling the shoes of the legendary Casemiro.
The young Frenchman has been an upgrade and stands toe-to-toe with the likes of Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham as one of the most important players on the team.
His importance has only grown now that he has been getting starts at center back, producing so many world-class performances that Real are essentially unbeatable with him in central defense.
As Madrid Universal point out, Real Madrid have kept a clean sheet in seven of the eight games Tchouaméni has started at center back, which is an elite, mind-boggling rate of clean sheets.
To compare, goalkeeper Andriy Lunin has been one of the best in the world this season, and he has a clean sheet rate of 50 percent, which is already extraordinary.
Tchouaméni is so good at reading the game both with the ball at his feet and without it, shoring up defensively and avoiding even needing to make tackles because his marking is so good.
The same qualities that make Tchouaméni an elite defensive midfielder also make him an elite center back. He’s just that good. Right now, he should be the envy of every other club in Spain, because nobody else’s CB is holding the same level of importance or consistency that he is.