Dean Huijsen: Real Madrid's Emerging Defensive Star
On a night when Real Madrid finally lost their footing, Dean Huijsen stood firm.
At La Cartuja, where Carlo Ancelotti’s side ran aground against a stubborn Betis and an inspired Vieites, the 19-year-old centre-back was the one player who looked fully at home in the chaos. While the attack kept crashing into a green-and-white wall, Huijsen quietly turned a complicated evening into his own statement performance.
Number 4 with a point to prove
This was not just another start for the defender who arrived from Málaga. This was a test of character in the famous number 4 shirt – the shirt of Sergio Ramos, of Fernando Hierro, inherited directly from David Alaba. Heavy fabric, heavy history.
Spanish daily Marca has already underlined it: Huijsen’s mentality has shifted this season. He looks harder, sharper, more combative. Less promise, more presence. The player himself set the tone early in the campaign: “What I know for certain is that I will give everything I have every day, whether that is in training or in matches.”
At La Cartuja, he lived that line. Every duel, every sprint, every recovery carried the weight of that promise.
Locking down Cucho and standing up to Antony
His main assignment was clear: stop Juan “Cucho” Hernández. He did it with a maturity that belied his age.
Cucho barely breathed inside the box. Whenever Betis tried to find their striker between the lines, Huijsen read the pass, stepped in, and cut it out. When the game opened up and space appeared, he beat the Colombian to the ball and to the run, tracking him stride for stride.
Then came the flashpoints. Antony tried to drag him into a personal battle, one of those tension-filled duels that can rattle a young defender. Huijsen didn’t flinch. He matched the Brazilian’s aggression, stood his ground, and refused to be intimidated by Betis’ most electric threat.
More than a stopper
What separated Huijsen from the rest of Madrid’s outfielders, alongside Arda Güler, was not just his defending. It was what he did when the ball came to his feet.
He played with boldness. He received under pressure, kept his composure, and picked the right passes. No panic, no aimless clearances. Just clean decisions in a team that often looked short of ideas in the final third.
He even came close to rewriting the night completely.
In the 11th minute, up for a corner, he forced Vieites into a sharp save from close range. Moments later, he rose highest and thundered a header against the crossbar. The stadium held its breath. A few centimetres lower and the story of the match shifts.
After the break, he pushed higher again, winning the ball in an advanced area and springing a move that almost turned into a decisive chance for Kylian Mbappé. Those are the actions that tilt big games. Convert one, and Real Madrid are talking about resilience and character instead of their first defeat of the season.
A partnership still under construction
Alongside him, Ibrahima Konaté delivered a solid, if less convincing, performance. The Frenchman did his defensive work but never quite looked at ease, with and without the ball. Where Huijsen exuded control, Konaté still seemed to be searching for his rhythm in a white shirt.
The gap in readiness between the pair was clear. Huijsen looks settled, growing, already playing as if he owns the back line. Konaté needs minutes, repetitions, and time. The foundations of the partnership are there; the polish is not yet.
From weak spot to cornerstone
For a club that has spent recent seasons worrying about its back line, Huijsen feels like a genuine breakthrough. On nights like this, when the result stings and the flaws up front are laid bare, his emergence becomes the biggest defensive gain Madrid could ask for.
He is not just filling a role. He is starting to lead. Performances that echo the legends whose number he wears are arriving with increasing regularity, and they are not going unnoticed.
Huijsen has a clear target in his sights: reclaiming his place in Luis de la Fuente’s Spain set-up after missing out on the World Cup-winning squad. Every tackle, every interception, every commanding display is a message.
If he keeps playing like this, how long can club and country pretend he is just another promising youngster?
