David Alaba remains true to himself at Real Madrid: Mr. Teflon lets the criticism fall down his back

David Alaba has never been a loudmouth and has always avoided attracting attention with polarizing statements.

Intelligent on the one hand, at least the Austrian knows the mechanisms of the circus called professional football. Every word is put on the metaphorical golden scale, which is used against you when in doubt.

“Everyone I know says yes and amen to everything,” complains self-proclaimed speaker Hinteregger in an interview with “Profil” magazine. He named Alaba as a prime example. “He is a perfect professional, he is really intelligent. But I always wonder why journalists want to interview him; you could also interview the Swiss pine (Zirbelkiefer, editor’s note) there.”

The comparison to a tree was new, Hinteregger’s criticism of Alaba was not. “David Alaba has been saying the same thing after the game for ten years. It’s fine, but it’s not his opinion,” he explained a few months earlier on the television program “RIESENrad-Sportgreaten im Waggon 28.” Hinteregger himself handled things differently and regularly adopted a confrontational course.

For this reason, he pays “a little more attention” to his sentences in public. A relatively sharp counterattack.

In the end, Alaba skillfully moderated the poisonous arrows, just like Alaba, and let the fire oil drain away like a high-quality Teflon frying pan. In addition to his football skills, another quality that may have helped the 31-year-old recently. Because: Alaba recently faced criticism from a sporting point of view.

This proved especially fruitful after Real Madrid’s 3-1 defeat against Atlético de la Ciudad at the end of September. The Spanish press, traditionally not apprehensive, targeted Alaba. “That was probably his worst game for Madrid,” said the “ace”: “He made a catastrophic mistake with the first goal. It was inexplicable, and with the second goal there was déjà vu. A fateful night for him.”

The sports newspaper “Marca” reached a similar conclusion: “He was bad in all goals and constantly lost sight of his opponents.” “Mundo Deporlivo” saw a “terrible game” by Alaba. The central defender practically crawled to the center shortly after the bitter defeat.

“Madridistas, we all expected much more. That was not our game, that was not my game,” he wrote in “X.” And he added: “We disappoint you, but we will fight and show what Real Madrid is.”

Alaba was right. Since that fateful derby, the Royals have not lost a game and have remained undefeated ten times in a row (eight wins, two losses). However, Alaba only played five times, missed three games due to adductor problems and was also on the bench for 90 minutes twice in a row in the Champions League.

It could therefore give the impression that the long-time Bayern star is no longer completely undisputed in the Spanish capital under Carlo Ancelotti, although a potential competitor like Éder Militao (cruciate ligament rupture) will have to take a break to long term. The impression was fueled by the online media “El Nacional”, which recently reported on a possible departure of Alaba.

Therefore, Real president Florentino Pérez is not satisfied with the fluctuating performance of the defensive specialist and the Spanish record champion would supposedly let Alaba go (contract until 2026) for 40 million euros. To put it in perspective: “El Nacional” is based in Barcelona, ​​the Alaba rumor emerged a few days before the match between FC Barcelona and Real. A little derby.

The Whites maintained a 2-1 lead thanks to two goals from Jude Bellingham (68th, 90th + 2), but Alaba had an unfortunate result when Ilkay Güngogan conceded a goal (6th). Overall, Alaba may not have had an outstanding season, but he was a solid one. That those responsible – as reported by “El Nacional” – are so disappointed with the veteran seems questionable to say the least.

Austria’s largest media outlet, the “Kronen Zeitung”, apparently did not want to stop commenting on critical news from Catalonia about the impact on Alaba’s exports and consulted an anonymous “known person in Spain”. “National is completely insignificant, nobody takes it seriously. Alaba is and continues to be an absolute leader at Real Madrid, highly valued in the club and in the team,” said a source quoted.

The recent negative results of the DFB would not have changed this. A diplomatic assessment. Typical Alaba. When, as expected, he was asked about his return to FC Bayern, the three-time Champions League winner was once again the master of words.

“I really feel very comfortable in Madrid, I have very clear objectives that of course I want to pursue. That’s why my thoughts are not elsewhere,” he said. A bet on the current employers without ruling out future scenarios.

Teflon remains true to its line. Intelligent.