Real Madrid were the champion of Spain and Europe in the 2023/24 season, and although they have struggled compared to their lofty expectations, they are still second in the league by only one point, just behind crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid.
They are actually ahead of rivals Barcelona – with a game in hand – despite losing to them 4-0 in El Clasico, and there is hope that with Kylian Mbappe at his best, Real Madrid can dominate LaLiga in the second half of the season just as they did throughout the 2023/24 campaign.
As we head into January and a new year, let’s take a look at the best possible Real Madrid starting lineup for Carlo Ancelotti to use going forward.
GK Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois is the unquestioned starter in goal and the best goalkeeper in the world. There isn’t much to be said here.
LB Ferland Mendy
I could go back and forth on the left back position, because the actual best option at left back is Eduardo Camavinga. Although Real’s whole identity is based around winning, Camavinga can impact the game a lot more as a midfielder than as a left back.
Fran Garcia offers a lot more going forward than Ferland Mendy, but there’s something to be said about Mendy’s one-on-one defending against top wingers, which has become even more important with ACL tears claiming the team’s top defensive players in Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal.
Mendy is a disaster going forward and honestly a little overrated defensively, but he’s quite clearly a superior defender to Garcia, especially against top competition in LaLiga and the Champions League.
CB Antonio Rudiger
Antonio Rudiger is the best available defender and the only remaining senior center back, so while he has admittedly struggled at times over the past couple of months, he is a nailed-on starter for Real Madrid.
CB Raul Asencio
Raul Asencio started three matches for Real Madrid, and he distinguished himself as the best-performing center back for the Merengues in each of those battles. He was even less mistake-prone and more assured on the ball than Rudiger, who was one of the best center backs in the entire world last season.
Real Madrid have something special in the 21-year-old Raul that is worth fostering, and by starting Aurelien Tchouameni, a center back, over him, they are derailing his development and actually hurting the team since Raul is playing at a higher level than the ex-Monaco man.
RB Lucas Vazquez
In lieu of any better options at right back, Lucas Vazquez starts for Real Madrid. Clearly, Real have been needing more cover at the position for a couple of seasons, but Vazquez, for all his flaws, isn’t a bad option, especially when his right-sided center back is better at covering than Tchouameni.
Vazquez was brilliant against Sevilla, for example, and I fully agree with Managing Madrid’s Matt Wiltse, who gave the Galician an 8.5 match rating for his efforts.
He may be short and vulnerable positionally, but Vazquez is still one of the better right backs in LaLiga and arguably better than the options Barcelona are starting. Because when Vazquez is good, he plays like an elite wing back.
CM Fede Valverde
Fede Valverde has become one of Real’s most important players, averaging 1.5 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game with just 0.3 dribbles allowed while putting up 5 goals and 1.2 key passes per match.
That highlights the all-around impact of the Uruguayan star, who is fulfilling his destiny as a leader in the middle of the park for Los Blancos. His intensity is as high as it was five years ago when he first became a regular under Zinedine Zidane, but now he is reading the game as well as any other midfielder.
CM Eduardo Camavinga
Having a pivot of Fede Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga would give Real Madrid a midfield tandem with more energy and overall quality than any other in both Spain and arguably even in all of Europe.
Camavinga joined Real Madrid as a phenom at Rennes, where he was shutting down PSG at 16. And then in his first season, he went from an unfairly marginalized backup under a surprisingly conservative Carlo Ancelotti to being a dynamite X-Factor in the final half-hour of Champions League knockout clashes against the world’s best teams.
I think Real Madrid could be doing more to move along Cama’s development, and it’s easy to forget that the Frenchman is still only 22. He’s always been significantly better than Tchouameni and needs to be starting every game; he’s only started six this season.
AM Jude Bellingham
Jude Bellingham is the best midfielder in the world, and anyone who watches him play almost every week will have a very difficult time entertaining any other option, though his own teammate, Fede Valverde, does have a case.
It’s just that Bellingham is so intelligent with his movement off the ball and so advanced technically as a dribbler that you can’t help but feel that if anyone is the heir to Zinedine Zidane, then it is Real’s newest No. 5.
Jude scored in six straight games at one point this season, bringing his tally to six goals and four assists in LaLiga. Even when he is not scoring, he is affecting games with world-class progression, chance creation, and ball-winning.
When Real Madrid moved him away from the opponent’s box and the modified 10 role, they suffered badly. He needs to be in the thick of the action and facilitating play, leading the press but also having the feel for when to drop and help the rest of his midfielders.
LW Vinicius Junior
Vinicius Junior is the best left winger in the world and the best player on Real Madrid, once again, this season, even after the addition of superstar Kylian Mbappe from PSG.
For one game, Carlo Ancelotti tried out Vini Jr. in the middle of the attack with Mbappe on the left, but it’s obvious that Vinicius Jr. needs to stay in his favored position as the main man in this XI.
CF Kylian Mbappe
After, by his own admission, hitting rock bottom against Athletic Club a few weeks ago, Kylian Mbappe has come roaring back to his best for Real Madrid, showing a lot less fear and more of his quality on the ball in recent wins and explosive team offensive performances against Atalanta, Pachuca, and Sevilla.
He saved his best for Sevilla, scoring a ludicrous goal with full power from range to open the scoring early, and then he sealed Real’s fourth with a delicious flicked assist to right winger Brahim Diaz after starting the move by keeping the play alive with pure grit.
There’s a sneaky dose of Karim Benzema in Mbappe’s game, and with the pressure fully off his back after seeing what the worst could be for him in Madrid, he is ready to wreak full havoc on defenses with Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo Goes flanking either side of him.
RW Rodrygo Goes
Rodrygo Goes isn’t having a banner year, and a return of five goals is still a bit lower than his talents indicate. But Rodrygo has been good this season and started the campaign as his team’s best attacker; he’s also scored a couple of gems among those five.
He is the undisputed starter on the right wing, because while Arda Guler has huge potential and Brahim Diaz is quite underrated, Rodrygo brings an element of intensity, intelligence, technical quality, and leadership that Real cannot do without in their XI.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at kparvizi19[at]gmail.com.