Real Madrid have finally found their most balanced centre-back pairing

Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 at the Mestalla on Saturday night, with goals from Arthur Guler, Kylian Mbappé, and Fede Valverde, making sure the Los Blancos walk away with three points.

It was probably one of the best Real Madrid performances of the season because they played Valencia out of the park. Whatever Valencia tried to do, whether it was physical, mental, or psychological, Real Madrid players should not care about it. They went on with their business to make sure the win comes home as soon as possible.

Valencia tried everything in their hands to get Real Madrid to falter or to break mentally, but they were not able to do that. If we strictly talk about football, Real Madrid played Valencia out of their own park. They played a really good brand of football, which has been the norm in the last few weeks, anyway.

Real Madrid players have been playing at a very high level, and the game against Valencia was probably one of the highest ones. They did not let Valencia do too much, especially in that second half. Even though there were some blips here and there in the first half, most of them were offside, and Real Madrid players were able to get the job done fairly easily - and a lot of that was down to Real Madrid's defenders, mainly their two centre-backs.

It wasn't nearly as difficult as it has been in the past at the Mestalla, and Ibrahima Konate and Dean Huijsen's performances were a big part of that. The two centre-backs had a brilliant game together. Once again, it seems like Real Madrid have finally found the perfect two defenders for the present and future.

The pairing works because both of these players complement each other so well that it just does not seem like they have only been playing together for a few months. Konate is the physical, strong profile with a very high defensive IQ, while Huijsen is a brilliant ball-playing centre-back who has finally found his best form after a tumultuous few months at the club.

Now they work really well together, and whatever deficiencies one has, the other compensates for them and more. It is a brilliant sight to watch, and it shows that Real Madrid have finally found a centre-back pairing that they can actually rely on.

Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba, and Eder Militao have provided a lot in the last few years, but because of injuries, decline, or other reasons, they have not been able to showcase their best form in quite some time. Real Madrid needed a fresh set of centre-backs who could lead the way forward, and they have found them in Huijsen and Konate.

Both of these centre-backs are fairly young, or at least nearing their prime, and they will be a very good match for the foreseeable future for this club. It will be very interesting to see how this partnership evolves in the future and how much it improves in these next few months of working together for the first time. So far, it has been splendid. No notes.