Real Madrid’s nine-game winning streak in all competitions came to an end after they played out a 1-1 draw with 10 men Osasuna.

It was a day of thrillers as Vinicius’ deceiving cross-like shot found the back of the net and Osasuna’s equaliser came in the form of a no-look header from Kike Garcia who was completely unaware of his header’s direction.

As Real Madrid shared points with the team from Pamplona on the day, they got toppled by Barcelona in the league standings who now occupy first place sending their Madrid rivals to second with points tied.

Here are my three observations from the match:

Weary from the International Break

As predicted, the players did come from the International Break with tiredness and stress. It was evident in the movements of Dani Carvajal, Aurelien Tchouameni and others. The International Break blues not only disrupted the performances of the players called on duty but it also seeped through the players staying at Madrid who didn’t receive any kind of football action.

Of course, Madridistas are gutted to see their team’s winning run falter but it was coming sooner or later. Hopefully, the players will be able to strike off their weariness and be truly back for the mid-week clash against Shakhtar.

Defensive woes continue

It has been another match where Real Madrid failed to keep a clean sheet because of defensive instability. If Antonio Rudiger could predict the incoming cross from Unai Garcia for Kike, Real could have kept their long-awaited clean sheet, such latency to foresee an attacking ball from the opponent will no doubt cost Ancelotti’s men many during the season.

There are more problems existing in the defence and Ancelotti might need to sort them out soon with El Clasico approaching this month.

This defeat doesn’t make the season

Let’s be clear on one thing. Yes, Real Madrid started the season on a high after composing a nine-game win streak but certainly, Madridistas perhaps didn’t expect an ‘invincible’ season from their club.

Optimistically speaking, this defeat was coming sooner or later and it happened early enough to give the team time to compose and restructure themselves.

The standards are always high at Madrid and as Ancelotti states, “We’re competing for everything.” It’s these kinds of games which win you the league at the end of the season but it’s also these kinds of games which brings you back to the roots to sort yourself out.