Real Madrid's new generation gets lost in crucial derby

Exactly 100 years ago, Ernest Hemingway published "The Sun Also Rises," a modernist sigh of a novel now recognized as his greatest and most important work. In it, he used a hot, sticky, stifling Spanish setting to tell the story of Europe's Lost Generation.

A century later, a different kind of Lost Generation took the field at the Metropolitano Stadium to play out the same story in 90 minutes. Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid, one of global soccer's flashiest and most dramatic teams, labored their way to a soul-crushing — and likely season-crushing — 2-1 loss to its local rival Atletico Madrid. The derby followed Hemingway's arc to a tee, with the same oppressive heat, the same Spanish setting and the same wasted exhale of a conclusion for a generation capable of so much more. We all should've seen it coming. 

This result marks Madrid's second league loss of the season. (It'd be its fourth if not for young striker Carlos Espi, who struck twice in injury time to hand the team controversial last-gasp wins against Espanyol and Elche.) It places Madrid six points behind its rival Barcelona, a frankly staggering drop-off for a team that spent well over 300 million Euro this summer to keep up with Barcelona's strides. To call this generation of Madrid "lost" might seem like a stretch — it's still in La Liga's top three and is competitive in the Champions League — but this is a team of galacticos, of dominators, and it hasn't lifted a major trophy since the 2023-24 campaign. It's as lost as Madrid generations come.

The wider scene of Madrid's discontent is one thing; the act, though, the Madrid derby in question, is another. In true Hemingway fashion, it's a simple story to tell. How did Real Madrid lose this derby? Two ways: gradually, then suddenly.

The gradual decline

When asked if he was extra motivated for this match because of the local rivalry behind it, Mourinho was dismissive. 

"I’m motivated every single day," he said. "I’m just as motivated to play against Villarreal as I am for a Clásico or a derby.

"It’s a league match," he added, "worth three points, and it has to be viewed with this pragmatism: that it’s three points that are at stake."

It's a reasonable take, aside from the gratuitous swipe at Villarreal, and one that showed exactly what kind of Madrid Mourinho intended to display in this match: a calm, sober, realistic Madrid capable of doing its job without fuss.

If Mourinho's intent was to keep his Madrid side from being too emotional, it would appear that he pushed it too far into the other direction. It was lethargic and laid-back from the opening whistle, moving slowly and deliberately as it it was playing underwater—a state of affairs that suited Atleti, a brazen, sneering side that always plays like a shiver of sharks.