Dean Huijsen: A Rising Star in Real Madrid's Defense

On a night when Real Madrid finally tripped, Dean Huijsen walked off La Cartuja looking like he belonged to another story.

While his teammates ran aground against a green-and-white wall and a defiant Vieites, the young centre-back from Málaga played with the calm of a veteran and the edge of someone who has something to prove. In a flat, frustrating first defeat of the season, he was the one clear positive.

Number 4 with a point to prove

Huijsen didn’t just pull on the number 4 shirt. He took on its history. David Alaba’s number, but in his mind the line runs straight back to Sergio Ramos and Fernando Hierro. That weight has changed him.

As reported by Marca, his mentality has hardened noticeably since the start of the season. He now plays with a sharper competitive bite, a visible fierceness that jars with his age but fits perfectly with the shirt he wears.

He had promised himself and everyone else: “What I know for certain is that I will give everything I have every day, whether that is in training or in matches.” In Seville, he lived that line. The result was poor; his performance was anything but.

Locking down Cucho, standing up to Antony

His primary assignment was clear: stop Juan “Cucho” Hernández. He did it with authority.

Huijsen tracked the Colombian everywhere, denied him clean touches in the box and cut off the supply before danger could grow. Betis tried to find their striker between the lines; Huijsen stepped in with well-timed interceptions, reading passes early and then beating him in the open field when the game stretched.

When the duel shifted and he found himself squared up against Antony, the temperature rose. The Brazilian tested him with pace, tricks and aggression. Huijsen refused to yield, matching intensity with intensity and refusing to retreat against one of Betis’ most electric threats.

This wasn’t a quiet, position-only performance. It was confrontational, front-foot defending.

More than a stopper

What truly set him apart, alongside Arda Güler, was what he did with the ball.

Huijsen showed for possession under pressure, received cleanly and made sharp, vertical decisions. No panic, no sideways for the sake of it. He broke lines, advanced into midfield and set the tempo from the back, playing like a defender who understands that at Real Madrid, you don’t just clear danger — you start attacks.

And then he nearly rewrote the script at the other end.

In the 11th minute, up for a corner, he forced Vieites into a difficult save from close range. Moments later, he rose highest and thundered a header off the crossbar. Different inches, different game.

After the break he pushed even higher. Winning the ball in an advanced area, he created a chance that almost turned into a decisive pass for Kylian Mbappé. If those moments go in, the conversation today is about Huijsen the match-winner, not Huijsen the lone standout in a defeat.

A partnership still under construction

Alongside him, Ibrahima Konaté delivered a solid if less convincing display. The Frenchman did his defensive work, but looked short of his most assured level, both when building from the back and when defending space.

The contrast between the two was clear. Huijsen appears settled, growing with each game. Konaté still looks like a player adjusting to a new environment, a new shirt, a new level of scrutiny. The pairing functioned, but the gap in rhythm and readiness was obvious. Time and minutes should close it.

Chasing legends, chasing La Roja

For a club that has spent recent seasons worrying about its back line, Huijsen now feels like a major defensive gain. Nights like this restore a measure of trust in a unit that has so often been pointed to as Real Madrid’s weakness.

Performances in the number 4 shirt keep stacking up, each one nudging him closer to the status of genuine defensive leader rather than promising understudy. And there is a personal chase running underneath it all.

Left out of the Spain squad that lifted the World Cup under Luis de la Fuente, Huijsen is playing every match as a statement. Each tackle, each interception, each surge into the opposition box is a reminder: he wants his place back in La Roja’s plans.

If he keeps defending like this on Real Madrid’s worst nights, how long can he really be ignored?