PA PhotosMichael Essien: Real Madrid's Mr Versatile

Defensive problems? What defensive problems? While Barcelona's makeshift back four struggled to contain a Deportivo side who scored four goals on home soil but still lost in a nine-goal thriller against the Catalans, Madrid's new-look emergency back-four coped pretty well in a comfortable, if not entirely convincing, 2-0 victory against other Galician opposition in Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night.

The international break wasn't kind to Blancos players, especially in defensive positions. Alvaro Arbeloa, Fabio Coentrao and Marcelo all returning to the Madrid treatment room rather than the training pitch. No out-and-out full-backs for Jose Mourinho to select, Castilla players aside. No problem.

All the talk pre-match was of inexperienced youngsters Casado or Nacho Fernandez getting the nod at left-back. Captain Iker Casillas said "there are players in our reserves who are very capable indeed" and Casado, as you'd probably expect when handed the question, said he was "ready" to feature if called upon. But for all the talk and all the discussions, Mourinho said he knew exactly who would plug the gap after hearing the injury news - Michael Essien. The Bison, as he's known to Chelsea fans.

In my pre-match post I said my gut feeling was that the loan star would get the nod (I'm not one to blow my own trumpet, but in this industry you have to make the most of good calls!), and that it was down to experience, and a belief in Mourinho that Essien could get the job done. I asked "where's Lass Diarra when you need him?". Well, for Lass Diarra, see Michael Essien.

Without wanting to compare the players like-for-like on their respective skills, Essien won't be playing week-in, week-out for Los Merengues, much in the same way as Diarra. He probably won't have a set position to rotate, or fill-in for. He's Mr. Versatile, and in modern-day football he's exactly the kind of player clubs need. He won't be classed as a Galactico and he probably won't go down as anything like a Madrid legend, but his arrival in the Spanish capital could be one of Mourinho's shrewdest signings yet, especially in injury-hit situations such as this.

"Real Madrid has very, very good players, but I'm ready to feature anywhere Mourinho asks me to," Essien said on his arrival in Spain. "It'll be a great feeling to win titles this way." He added: "Daddy [Mourinho] knows me very well, he knows I can play in any position he wants me to, except goalkeeper."

You get the impression the Ghanaian is just thankful to be playing the game he loves professionally, and now playing it with one of, if not the, biggest clubs in the world. Some might call him a jack of all trades and master of none, especially since injuries have taken away that burst of pace he had in perhaps his best days with Chelsea, but he certainly mastered the left-back place against Celta.

Let's not forget that although Essien is seen as a versatile player, his performances in defence, and especially at left-back, have been extremely rare. So to put in such a commanding and assured performance in a La Liga match, no matter the standard of opposition, in that position was impressive. Indeed, he was many people's man-of-the-match. While Celta may have been looking at their right side as a source of possible problems for their hosts, Augusto Fernández had problems getting the better of Essien all night. The stats read well, too, with Essien winning back possession more times than any of his team-mates, on 13 occasions compared to the 12 of the other Blancos full-back, Sergio Ramos. The Ghana international isn't going to provide the the extra attacking ammunition going forward on a par with Marcelo, but it can be argued that he's stronger defensively, thanks to his more disciplined approach.

Madrid assistant manager Aitor Karanka was impressed, too, saying: "We signed Essien because he is a player that the manager knows very well and the various positions he can play in, and in all of those positions he fulfils his role. Today was an important match after the international break and the response of Essien and the team as a whole is what we expected". Essien said: "It was a bit strange but he [Mourinho] asked me to do it and I know I can do it. I'm very happy to play anywhere he asks me, it's up to me to work very hard for the team and get three points."

I guess that's the back four for Dortmund sorted, then. No disrespect to Celta, but Madrid's problems at the back were always going to be more of a problem in the long run, against sides such as Dortmund in the Champions League and Mallorca away from the Bernabeu next weekend. It's likely we'll see this back-four in place for both those matches at least, with Arbeloa out for a few weeks and both Coentrao and Marcelo out for longer. The test has been passed with flying colours so far, but a bigger test awaits Madrid's new-look defence.

Follow me on Twitter @nicholasrigg

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