Atletico clash brings back memories that Real Madrid defender cannot ignore | OneFootball

Dean Huijsen backed up his arrival at Real Madrid with a solid start to life at the club, helping the team to seven straight wins across all competitions at the beginning of the season.

The player seemed to be built for the Real Madrid challenge at that point in time and was an assured starter in Xabi Alonso’s plans.

Everything, however, changed when the team took on Atletico Madrid on match day seven of La Liga.

A 2-5 defeat brought the club’s momentum to a screeching halt and served as a reality check for the team. The defence, needless to say, was the worst hit and Huijsen was even taken off for his performance.

Faced by the ghosts

As brought to light by Diario AS in a recent report, Huijsen must face the ghosts of the previous encounter later today when Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid lock horns, and thus confront an opponent who dismantled him the last time around.

He failed to jump and intercept the cross for Atletico Madrid’s opener and simply could not defend Alexander Sorloth’s strike for the second.

Dean Huijsen must confront his demons. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

The second half saw matters go from bad to worse as the player was played through time and time again.

From that moment on, Huijsen’s prominence in the team slowly fell to a point where he was even dropped as a starter.

His form took a steep fall, and the player’s confidence took a massive hit.

In recent weeks, the player has slowly worked his way back to form and showed a great level in the team’s recent games against Manchester City.

Later tonight, he must look to present the same confident version of himself against an opponent that will trigger cruel memories.

After all, he cannot afford to slip up against the same opposition.