Where Can Real Madrid Improve Defensively in 2015?

Real Madrid may not consider it in their DNA to spend too much time concerning themselves with defending.

Their unrivaled success in the late 1950s consisted of a team full of attacking players who would think nothing of putting more than five goals past their opponents on a weekly basis. Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas, Francisco Gento were footballing royalty.

That successful era was orchestrated by then-President Santiago Bernabeu. Florentino Perez's idea was to replicate those glories using a similarly star-laden side.

Di Stefano and Co. had originally been known as the Galacticos, but that label gained even more prominence upon the arrival of the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo and David Beckham.

Meanwhile, the likes of Francisco Pavon were left to do the defending.

Before last year's Champions League final, The Telegraph's Jonathan Liew revisited that era in the Spanish capital, recalling a particularly poignant quote from Zidane:

"

This proved to be symptomatic of the short-term thinking at the club. The Zidanes continued to flow in, generating some of the most thrilling attacking football in the club’s history and sending attendances through the roof. “I enjoyed it so much,” Zidane is quoted as saying in Sid Lowe’s excellent Fear And Loathing In La Liga. “They scored two? No pasa nada. We’ll score three.”

"

Things have, at least slightly, changed at the club since then.

Jose Mourinho deserves some credit for the improved defending currently on show, while Carlo Ancelotti has picked up the baton where the Portuguese left it.

DOMENICO STINELLIS/Associated Press

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

In fact, so good has their defending been that in a recent interview with Un Cano, as translated by Sports Mole, former Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino was inclined to comment on the quality they are showing in that area of the pitch.

"I will say three players that I like, and I think they are the great secret of why the team is doing so well," he said. "I really like the central three of Real Madrid [Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Raphael Varane]."

However, this Madrid defence is not unreachable.

Last season, as they toiled to a third-place finish in La Liga, they conceded 38 goals, which equated to a goal a game—champions Atletico Madrid conceded just 26, and Barcelona conceded 33.

Things have tightened up this season, largely thanks to a 22-game winning streak.

Just 15 goals have stung Los Blancos' net in their 17 league outings, while Atletico, having played one game more, have already leaked 18.

Surprisingly, Barca, who are largely considered to be suspect at the back, are conceding just 0.5 goals a match.

Looking at the raw facts is one thing, but it is also important to look at the personnel responsible for keeping the goals out.

At right-back, Dani Carvajal is increasingly brilliant.

After one season bedding into the first team, he looks like he's been let off his leash this year, and some of his attacking play breeds belief that he could be Madrid's answer to that position for the best part of the next decade.

He's backed up by Alvaro Arbeloa, who, now 31, may be replaced by a younger model at the end of the season.

As Martino said, it is the strength in the middle of the defence that is impressive.

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Francois Nel/Getty Images

The partnership between Ramos and Pepe has hit new heights since Mourinho left—Pepe has been particularly imperious—and they're ably supported by one of the most impressive young defenders in the world in Varane.

On paper, Madrid are well-stocked on the left, but they may benefit from freshening things up.

Ancelotti has claimed, per , that Marcelo is the best full-back in the world, but there can't be many people who would agree with him.

The Brazilian is good, but his attacking ability is often overestimated, and his defending can be wobbly at times.

His competition comes in the form of Fabio Coentrao, who, aside from being Cristiano Ronaldo's friend, has offered little to the club since signing for over £20 million.

On his day, he is brilliant, but his day is far too rare, and he is far too prone to injuries. He may benefit from a fresh start elsewhere, allowing Madrid to bring in younger competition for Marcelo.

It's not just defenders who can improve the defending, though.

It won't be long—if it hasn't happened already—until David De Gea overtakes Iker Casillas in terms of quality, and the Mirror's John Cross and David McDonnell say the European champions are keen on signing him for £30 million.

Meanwhile, in front of the back four, there isn't the same protection without Xabi Alonso.

Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, before his injury, have done admirable jobs, but there remains a feeling in the really important matches that the absence of Alonso will tell—although Kroos is rapidly quelling those doubts.