Real Madrid star ends 2024 on a high despite an underwhelming first half of the season

The arrival of Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid last summer not only generated excitement and expectations among the fans but there were also some concerns that accompanied his incorporation into Carlo Ancelotti’s team.

One of the most reasonable of these concerns was surrounding his fit in a team that had won the La Liga and the UEFA Champions League double only a few months prior to his arrival. In that highly successful season, Ancelotti’s starting forward lineup had been composed of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes, while Jude Bellingham also made significant contributions from the midfield.

Vinicius and Bellingham were clearly the Merengues’ biggest stars last season, while Mbappe’s stature also guaranteed him a starting spot in his new team. In these circumstances, Rodrygo Goes remained the one player who faced the biggest threat to his presence in Ancelotti’s starting lineup.

However, he has remained a part of the starting eleven at Real Madrid for most part of the season, starting 11 of the 15 games he has played this season in La Liga and another 2 of the 4 games he has played in the UEFA Champions League.

As has been the case for most of the Merengue team in the first half of the season, Rodrygo has also been far from his best. Injuries have also hampered his form to some extent, and he has struggled to impress for most part of the season.

However, he seems to have turned things around in the last three games, as he has once again been shining for Los Blancos. After scoring a goal in the first game of the league campaign against Mallorca, Rodrygo also scored in the games against Espanyol and Alaves in September.

Following these strikes, he had to wait for two months before getting back on the scoresheet, which he did in the match against Rayo Vallecano. But starting from this game, the Brazilian has been on a purple patch, which has extended for the last three games.

In this match against Vallecano, Rodrygo scored his team’s third goal and also assisted the second goal that was scored by Jude Bellingham. He was the Man of the Match for this game, and in addition to this goal and assist, also provided 3 key passes and had 2 shots on target.

He built on this performance in the following match against Pachuca in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup final. In this game, Rodrygo once again got on the scoresheet, as he scored the second goal for his side which was assisted by Kylian Mbappe.

Then, in the last game of the year, against Sevilla, he continued on this good form, as he scored another goal and provided another assist. He also had 2 key passes in that game and 2 shots on target.

In addition to these offensive contributions, the Brazilian has also been performing his defensive duties well and never shies away from retreating to his own third to help the team’s defence.

Sofascore has given him a rating of 7.46 in La Liga for this half-season, and in this regard, he is fourth on the list of Real Madrid players. However, he is yet to shine in the UEFA Champions League, where has not yet scored a goal this season. Hopefully, he will be back to his best for this competition as well once he returns from his Christmas holidays.