History reminds Madrid of the weight of its 'nines' while it waits for Mbappé and prepares for the premiere of the Bernabéu

The history of Madrid calls for a nine, a great nine. In a football that has lost a good part of the liturgy of the numbers, once synonymous with very specific roles, the nine retains its weight as a reserve for the great scorers. The white club have never lacked, they have even doubled them with other numbers worn by great area players who wore the number nine in their souls, whether they were Puskas, Butragueño, Raúl or Cristiano, who only wore it in his first year. On the back it belonged to Di Stéfano, Santillana, Hugo Sánchez, Ronaldo or Benzema. The march of the latter to the new 'Treasure Island' of football, in Arabia, leaves the number orphan that Joselu prudently will not wear. Whether or not it is reserved for Mbappé, we will know, but, meanwhile, Madrid will feel incomplete if they look in the mirror of their history.

For the moment, the French star has stated that he will remain at PSG until 2024 and Madrid slips that he will not make any more contracts. Both things can form part of the negotiating dynamic, but if these positions do not change, Florentino Pérez's club could open next season without a 'starting' nine in their eleven, since Joselu, on loan from relegated Espanyol, initially arrives to fulfill the role that Mariano did not know how to play, even though he has become the fetish scorer for Luis de la Fuente's team.

43 goals between Benzema and Asensio

If in the end that nine does not arrive, Joselu will be, at 33 years old, before the opportunity to change his story. However, it seems like an excessive risk, since Madrid has to recover 43 goals, which are the ones scored by Benzema (31) and Asensio (12), one more than those achieved in the same period by the Vinicius couple (23 )-Rodrygo (19). We are not, furthermore, facing just any season for Madrid, since the new Bernabéu should be inaugurated in December, a milestone to which the tailwind of success, of goal, is appropriate.

The alternatives would go through offering more titles than expected to Joselu or opting to play with Rodrygo as a false nine, something that he has already done circumstantially. The Brazilian is a footballer who arrives in the box, not who lives in it, and, given his height (1.74), he would generally be at a disadvantage when it comes to aerial balls.

On the other hand, Madrid tends to feel more comfortable with clear references that favor their direct game, of vertigo, and exuberant punch. Despite the fondness of some coaches for the false nine, he never competes with a nine if he is of great world hierarchy. The proof is that even the most alchemist coaches, like Guardiola, do not hesitate to sign Ibrahimovic, Villa or Haaland. Ancelotti's teams have always had it.

a hierarchical number

The nine in Madrid has always been associated with the goal, but not necessarily with the position of center forward, but with the hierarchy. Di Stéfano wore it, a scorer, of course, but what today we would call a box to box player, and Cristiano wore it for a season, starting from the left to explode in the area. Although his conditions allowed him any attacking position, as his speed decreased, he became a purer nine, even though he played with the 'seven', like Butragueño or Raúl.

Di Stéfano commanded the Madrid initiator of the reign in Europe with the nine behind his back and an offensive role in the teams greater than in subsequent years, in which the weight of tactics and defensive systems increased. Neither the Argentine nor Rial nor Kopa, great scorers, responded purely to that role. Puskas, nicknamed Cañoncito pum, was the exemplification of the punch, but with the 10 on his back.

The next Madrid that won the European Cup, in 1966, already had a new nine. It was Grosso, who was succeeded by Santillana, predecessor of Quinta del Buitre and Hugo Sánchez, who in the 1989-90 season scored 38 one-touch goals. There are few better examples of that role in its purest form.. The Mexican is the seventh absolute goalscorer in the club's history. Of the first five, three always carried the nine (Benzema, 354; Di Stéfano, 308 and Santillana, 290), another one year (Cristiano, 451) and another (Raúl, 323) played as if it were. To open the new stadium without one is to tempt history.