Real Madrid had so many players play at their best against Barcelona on Sunday night, that it was hard to narrow it down to just four or five of their best performers. Almost every single player had a huge, huge performance, and all of that also translated to how well they played together as a team.

Real Madrid were not perfect, because they could have scored many more goals. However, on the defensive end, for the most part, Los Blancos were outstanding. Some great individual performances, excellent coverage of the pitch, and some huge interventions at the perfect time got Real Madrid the three points they desperately needed.

One of the few players who who did all of that was Aurelien Tchouameni, who had by far his best performance of the year against Real Madrid's biggest rivals in football.

Aurelien Tchouameni needs a ball-dominant player next to him to flourish

The truth that Jose Mourinho is now realising is that Tchouameni and Valverde are simply incompatible. Playing them together in midfield is useless, and for the team to see the best of Tchouameni, you need to pair him with a player who is not shy of the ball. A player who does not shy away from responsibility. Someone who loves passing the ball around and controlling it for long stretches. Having him next to a box-to-box profile like Valverde will not do him any favours.

Tchouameni played some brilliant football alongside Toni Kroos a couple of years ago because he was able to give all of his on-the-ball responsibilities to the German, and just focus on being a monstrous presence defensively. Against Barcelona, Mourinho asked him to do the same thing, this time to Bernardo Silva, and it all worked out brilliantly.

He was able to control the defense and just focus on the defensive side of the pitch, which is his specialty. It was by far the best performance we have seen from Tchouameni in over a year, and it was good to see him play this way.

Tchouameni has been rightfully under a critical eye this season, with plenty of bad performances visible to most Real Madrid fans. Even before the season started, the French midfielder was not having the best of times in 2026 for the club, as he continued to struggle in midfield alongside Fede Valverde.

These two players do not work together, and it is now clear that Mourinho will always try to pair him with an Arda Guler or a Silva so that he is able to keep doing what he does best: defend, dominate and repeat.