Real Madrid just about managed to beat a threatening Leganes 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu to keep the pressure on Barcelona for the title race. Thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham, Los Blancos were able to beat their city rivals. Here are three observations from the match.

Real Madrid will get cooked in transitions against any other team

Bad things first: Real Madrid are an awful defensive team sometimes. Saturday night was one of those times where the opposing team looked threatening with every single possession inside Real Madrid’s half.

It was easy for Leganes to get from point A to point B, and they faced no stoppage from Real Madrid in that regard. It is surprising to see a team as big as Real Madrid concede two goals to relegation sides.

Leganes have made Atletico Madrid and Barcelona drop points this season, but they are not a good team. They are 18th in the table for a reason. Leganes have lost nearly half of their 29 La Liga games this season, but against Real Madrid, they looked like a team battling for Europe.

It was not a good look. If Real Madrid play like that against the Liverpools, Barcelonas and Arsenals of the world, they will get dominated in transitions. Blown away. Real Madrid tend to wake up in those matches — most of the time, anyway — but it has almost become a tradition for this side to struggle far more than they should against ‘smaller’ teams. If you struggle in these ones, you make it harder for yourself to be in tip-top shape and form for the games that would be even more challenging.

Jude Bellingham, monster

Bellingham has been brilliant this season, apart from a week or two when he did not play much because of suspension and lack of match fitness.

When Bellingham is at his best, things usually work out. He wills them to. He works them out. Against Leganes, when the tide was against his team, Bellingham showed up. Not only did he show up, but he also gave one of his best performances of the season.

To me, Bellingham looked like his start-of-2023-24 self. This year’s version of Bellingham is not bad at all — in fact, it is unbelievably good — but there was something about the Englishman from year one. He used to dominate. He used to do everything all at once. Need a goal? Jude’s there. Last-second block? Hey, Jude. He also used to score these poacher type goals by getting into good positions. There was more of that last night.

It was also the fact that Bellingham looked bigger and better than everyone else on the pitch. He was winning every duel, was making every pass, every dribble, every tackle, everything. He had a goal in mind, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.

It is games like this where Real Madrid fans should just be thankful. They’ve got an all-timer on their hands. Bellingham, on his day, is the best player in the world. If it were not for his five dribbles completed, 14/17 duels won, a brilliant, instinctive goal, two key passes, three tackles and an interception, Real Madrid would have lost yet another league game, and possibly the league title.

Has Raul Asencio been Real Madrid’s most impressive defender this season?

If I read that heading at the start of this season, I’d probably not believe it.

Asencio has just been a revelation this season. There have not been many players who have improved so much in the jump from third-tier football to Real Madrid level football, and Asencio is one of them.

When he was playing for Castilla, he was never this good. I have been asked about it multiple times on Twitter, and I always say that he was much better on the ball than he was off it, and for a centre-back, that is not the best thing.

Asencio used to make mistakes, and a lot of them, and sometimes took too much on his plate and that made it difficult for him to do a lot of good for the team.

However, the minute he came into the first team, Asencio has been very good. He has gained a sense of maturity, and mastered the art of doing his job right. He has improved more in a few months than many players do in their entire career, and that is all credit to Asencio realising the gravity of the situation.

Once again, the Spanish centre-back was great against Leganes. He was Real Madrid’s best defender, and it was not the first time that was happening. Obviously, Antonio Rudiger has been brilliant too, but his rusty form has continued in the last couple of months and has not done much for him.

Asencio has been consistent, constantly putting out multiple fires at once, which has led me to believe that he might just be Real Madrid’s best defender of the season. He’s got that hint of arrogance about him as well, which just reminds me of a certain Spanish centre-back that used to don the white of Real Madrid.