Route not working for package controller with auth middleware

I am having trouble with setting up routes for a controller that is in a package and uses the auth middleware.

I have the following in the package ServiceProvider:

    public function boot()
    {
        $package_dir = __DIR__ .'/../../';

        $this->loadRoutesFrom($package_dir .'routes/web.php');
        $this->loadViewsFrom($package_dir .'resources/views', 'core');
    }

In the package's own routes/web.php:

Route::resource('/users', '\Ocelot\Core\Http\Controllers\UsersController')->middleware('auth');
//Route::get('/users', '\Ocelot\Core\Http\Controllers\UsersController@index')->middleware('auth');
//Route::get('/users', [\Ocelot\Core\Http\Controllers\UsersController::class, 'index'])->middleware('auth');

Neither of these variants work, until I remove ->middleware('auth'). The same applies if I set the middleware in the controller constructor:

    public function __construct()
    {
        $this->middleware('auth');
    }

What happens is that when I visit /users I get the following trace

1. /users 302 redirect to ...
2. /login 302 redirect to ...
3. /home

However, if I put Route::resource('/users', '\Ocelot\Core\Http\Controllers\UsersController')->middleware('auth');into the application root routes/web.php the exact same code works as expected.

I am on Laravel version 6.9.0. Please also note...

1. I use a custom table name for the users table
2. My User class is also in the package and not in App\User
3. The whole time I am not logged out or something - the session is stable

For some reason, the Illuminate\Auth\Middleware\Authenticate::authenticate() method thinks I am not authorized and dd's a Null here

protected function authenticate($request, array $guards)
    {
        if (empty($guards)) {
            $guards = [null];
        }

        foreach ($guards as $guard) {
            if ($this->auth->guard($guard)->check()) {
                return $this->auth->shouldUse($guard);
            }
        }

        dd(\Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth::user());
        $this->unauthenticated($request, $guards);
    }

The Http Kernel is untouched since install:

class Kernel extends HttpKernel
{
    /**
     * The application's global HTTP middleware stack.
     *
     * These middleware are run during every request to your application.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $middleware = [
        \App\Http\Middleware\TrustProxies::class,
        \App\Http\Middleware\CheckForMaintenanceMode::class,
        \Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\ValidatePostSize::class,
        \App\Http\Middleware\TrimStrings::class,
        \Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\ConvertEmptyStringsToNull::class,
    ];

    /**
     * The application's route middleware groups.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $middlewareGroups = [
        'web' => [
            \App\Http\Middleware\EncryptCookies::class,
            \Illuminate\Cookie\Middleware\AddQueuedCookiesToResponse::class,
            \Illuminate\Session\Middleware\StartSession::class,
            // \Illuminate\Session\Middleware\AuthenticateSession::class,
            \Illuminate\View\Middleware\ShareErrorsFromSession::class,
            \App\Http\Middleware\VerifyCsrfToken::class,
            \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings::class,
        ],

        'api' => [
            'throttle:60,1',
            'bindings',
        ],
    ];

    /**
     * The application's route middleware.
     *
     * These middleware may be assigned to groups or used individually.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $routeMiddleware = [
        'auth' => \App\Http\Middleware\Authenticate::class,
        'auth.basic' => \Illuminate\Auth\Middleware\AuthenticateWithBasicAuth::class,
        'bindings' => \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings::class,
        'cache.headers' => \Illuminate\Http\Middleware\SetCacheHeaders::class,
        'can' => \Illuminate\Auth\Middleware\Authorize::class,
        'guest' => \App\Http\Middleware\RedirectIfAuthenticated::class,
        'password.confirm' => \Illuminate\Auth\Middleware\RequirePassword::class,
        'signed' => \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\ValidateSignature::class,
        'throttle' => \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\ThrottleRequests::class,
        'verified' => \Illuminate\Auth\Middleware\EnsureEmailIsVerified::class,
    ];

    /**
     * The priority-sorted list of middleware.
     *
     * This forces non-global middleware to always be in the given order.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $middlewarePriority = [
        \Illuminate\Session\Middleware\StartSession::class,
        \Illuminate\View\Middleware\ShareErrorsFromSession::class,
        \App\Http\Middleware\Authenticate::class,
        \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\ThrottleRequests::class,
        \Illuminate\Session\Middleware\AuthenticateSession::class,
        \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings::class,
        \Illuminate\Auth\Middleware\Authorize::class,
    ];
}

Am I missing something or have I discovered a bug? :)

Related: https://laracasts.com/discuss/channels/code-review/package-controller-not-called-when-using-middlewareauth-while-signed-in