Real Madrid News
Ancelotti wants to see how young Real Madrid midfield duo performs together
As we get set to enter the business end of the 2022/23 season, Real Madrid are still competing on three fronts.
Having already won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, Carlo Ancelotti’s men are in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, have all but made it through to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, and are second in La Liga.
With so much still on the line, Ancelotti will need his entire squad to step up and make a difference for the remainder of the campaign.
The midfield department is perhaps the most well-covered one at the Santiago Bernabeu, with as many as six senior options available at the manager’s disposal.
However, of late, Ancelotti has slowly begun to rotate the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric much more frequently than in the past, putting the spotlight on younger individuals like Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni.
And, according to a report from AS (h/t Madrid Zone), the Real Madrid manager is keen to see how the young French duo of Tchouameni and Camavinga perform when played together in the middle of the park.
Often it has been the case that Ancelotti has not started the French midfielders together. Furthermore, Tchouameni has been absent for a good chunk of the campaign since the World Cup break due to injury and illness.
During this time, Camavinga has stepped up and performed admirably in the defensive midfield position. The youngster has also shone brightly when asked to fill in as a makeshift left-back as well, while he can play as an interior midfielder too.
Now that Tchouameni is back and in contention to start against Atletico Madrid tomorrow, it will be interesting to see how the dynamics of the Real Madrid midfield change.
Only time will tell whether the manager decides to start both Tchouameni and Camavinga in midfield for the derby or opts for the experience of Kroos and Modric over the latter.
Real Madrid News
Real Madrid locker room angry with Barcelona midfielder’s ‘unsportsmanlike’ behaviour – report
While the evident frustration among the Real Madrid players was quite visible following the recent 1-2 defeat against Barcelona, the feeling of vexation was not really limited on the field.
Journalist Mario Cortegana, while writing for The Athletic, has confirmed that once the players got into the dressing room, the environment had an air of anger and frustration.
Players from each team had a go at each other right till the end, especially the likes of Dani Carvajal and Arnau Tenas, who had to be separated by several members from both teams.
Interestingly, before the aforementioned incident, Barcelona midfielder Gavi was already causing some trouble on the field. The youngster did not shy away from putting his body on the line throughout the game and it annoyed Madrid players to the extreme.
First, he pushed Carvajal in one incident and after that, he entangled himself in an off-the-ball clash with Dani Ceballos. The Madrid midfielder first had a collision with Robert Lewandowski and as the game moved on, Gavi made note of the incident.
During the run of play, Gavi pushed Ceballos with his shoulder and it did not settle well with the Madrid players and manager Carlo Ancelotti. The players and the manager were disturbed by Gavi’s behaviour and considered it ‘unsportsmanlike’.
On the other hand, there was frustration involving refereeing decisions as well. It must be remembered that in the 82nd minute, Marco Asensio found the back of the net to send the Madrid fans into a frenzy.
The celebration, however, was cut short as VAR disallowed the goal for an extremely tight offside. “We are sad, frustrated,” a dressing room source told The Athletic. “What happened? A guy looking at a TV in Madrid has decided La Liga.”
Ancelotti, on his part, said: “The disallowed goal? I don’t know, I really don’t know. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. I’m leaving with this doubt. If the VAR is sure.”
“I leave this match very proud. I don’t think we deserved to lose today,” he added.
