He raised his index finger with his right hand, smiled, looked back at his team-mates and faced the opposing stands to kiss the Real Madrid crest before making a defining gesture and putting his index finger on his head.
“You have to be calm,” he seemed to want to say.
That is how Aurelien Tchouameni, known more familiarly at the club as Tchoua, celebrated his first goal in a Real Madrid shirt in the 3-0 win away to Girona.
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“After 58 games, congratulations,” joked team-mate Lucas Vazquez minutes later, commenting on Tchouameni’s post on Instagram, which had messages from the entire dressing room, although behind the joke the truth was peeking through.
Tchouameni’s team-mates were thrilled for the midfielder (Antonio Villalba/Real Madrid via Getty Images)The France midfielder finally has his goal and it came in the most complete performance by Carlo Ancelotti’s team this season — ending Girona’s unbeaten start as Madrid replaced them at the top of La Liga.
Madrid had started shakily with a surprising decision: Eduardo Camavinga playing left-back ahead of Ferland Mendy and Fran Garcia, but Los Blancos quickly found themselves in control by the 21st minute. Joselu’s fourth league goal of the season gave them the lead in the 17th minute with Tchouameni soon doubling it when he headed in Toni Kroos’ corner to emphasise his importance.
The only game in which the 23-year-old midfielder did not start this season was the Madrid derby — the only one in which Ancelotti’s side have lost.
“Above all, I wanted to rest Tchouameni, who had played a lot of games, even taking into account the matches with the national team,” Ancelotti said to justify his decision after the 3-1 defeat against Atletico Madrid.
This season, the midfielder has started eight out of nine games. Exactly the same as last season at this stage. However, after the World Cup in Qatar, Tchouameni lost his place in midfield as Ancelotti favoured the experience pairing of Luka Modric and Kroos.
He did not help himself in January, when he traveled to Paris, while injured, to watch an NBA game between the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls while Madrid had another match. Club officials were not impressed, but it was seen as a naive mistake rather than a malicious one and it has not been held against him.
“I knew what it was like to play for Madrid, the best team in the world. The demands and pressure are very high. What happened in Paris was my mistake, but I’m young and I’m sure it won’t happen again,” he said.
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But this year, in line with the club’s strategy of continuing the transition in midfield, the trend is not expected to be the same.
He was destined to be Casemiro’s successor when the long-serving Brazil midfielder left for Manchester United at the start of last season.
The Madrid management had already signed Tchouameni for €80million plus add-ons from Monaco in 2022.
It is an open secret how highly valued Tchouameni is within the club. He is framed as one of those who preferred the white shirt to more money and is dubbed as one of the “phenomenons”, or one of the leaders of the new generation of players who are in the team.
That is why, despite the interest of Premier League teams this summer after an in and out first season at the Bernabeu, the club is clear: he is not for sale.
For his part, inside the dressing room, Tchouameni has won the affection of everyone, who define his attitude as very good.
He does not need to be extroverted; they know Tchouameni has something special: he speaks Spanish fluently because his mother is a teacher of the language and he plays the piano with the same mastery.
Against Girona he distributed 46 successful passes out of a possible 50, but where he excelled the most was in his work without the ball, usually placed between the central defenders, Nacho and Antonio Rudiger.
From there, he helped Camavinga in his challenge on the left flank and tried to cut all of Girona’s transitions with seven recoveries and three tackles won.
In the 81st minute and the game long over, Girona poured into Kepa Arrizabalaga’s area, but Tchouameni was intent on ensuring the clean sheet with the best of his clearances.
Ten minutes earlier, following one of his recoveries, Tchouameni was able to give a key pass to Joselu in the build up to Jude Bellingham’s goal which completed the scoring.
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At that point, Bellingham took the spotlight again and asked Tchouameni for some space to do his typical celebration with his arms outstretched.
But far from frowning, Tchouameni stood back to enjoy the moment in the background.
He knew that was exactly his role — as he does every week in the team now.
(Top photo: Antonio Villalba/Real Madrid via Getty Images)
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