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Kroos, Joselu start in a 4-4-2: How Real Madrid could line up against Juventus
Real Madrid will look to end their pre-season tour of the United States of America on a high when they take on Juventus at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando tonight.
Los Blancos will still be licking their wounds from the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona this past weekend. Even though it was only a pre-season encounter, Carlo Ancelotti’s men will be unhappy with losing an El Clasico and would be gunning to produce a strong reaction.
Real Madrid will come up against a Juventus side who had their first pre-season game in the US against Barcelona cancelled. Following that, the Bianconeri beat AC Milan in a penalty shootout after the game ended 2-2.
Real Madrid will once again be without the services of new signing Arda Guler, who has been sent back to Spain to continue his recovery from a knee injury. Ferland Mendy also misses out due to injury. There are unlikely to be any other absentees for the Spanish capital club.
This will be the final pre-season match for the Merengues before they kick off their La Liga campaign against Athletic Club in over a week. And here’s how Ancelotti could set his team up against Juve at the Camping World Stadium.
Starters
Considering that he did not play in the first two friendlies against AC Milan and Manchester United, Thibaut Courtois is expected to start again in goal for Real Madrid against Juventus.
There should be some major changes in the rest of the lineup, though, with Ancelotti likely to hand out opportunities to the players who did not start in the Clasico.
As such, Fran Garcia should replace Mendy at left-back, following the Frenchman’s injury during El Clasico, which will sideline him for an extended period. Dani Carvajal, though, should retain his spot at right-back.
Meanwhile, Antonio Rudiger and captain Nacho Fernandez should start at the heart of the defence, replacing the first-choice duo of Eder Militao and David Alaba.
Aurelien Tchouameni has showcased good form so far in pre-season, but Ancelotti is likely to replace him with Toni Kroos in the pivot position as part of the midfield diamond setup.
Fellow veteran Luka Modric should also return to the starting lineup as one of the interior midfielders, potentially at the expense of Federico Valverde. Eduardo Camavinga should retain his spot in the side.
Jude Bellingham has been a revelation thus far in pre-season and Ancelotti is unlikely to take his marquee signing out of the spotlight. It would mean that both Brahim Diaz and Nico Paz will have to wait for their chances until the second half.
New signing Joselu has shown good attributes in the limited minutes he has received so far on the pre-season tour and could be in line for a start up top. The Spaniard should be partnered with Vinicius Jr, who will be looking to get into goalscoring form before the season starts.
Real Madrid Predicted XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Garcia; Kroos; Modric, Camavinga; Bellingham; Joselu, Vinicius.
Real Madrid’s season, under the returning Jose Mourinho, has not started as expected at the club.
In terms of results, eight matches have produced six wins one draw and two defeats in all competitions. Both losses have come in La Liga (five wins), leading to the Merengues occupying the fourth place in the table.
Meanwhile, arch-rivals Barcelona have maintained a perfect winning record riding on their relentless goalscoring form, opening up a six-point lead at the table.
Mourinho is using the international break to analyse what has gone wrong and what can be improved. And, several metrics and statistics show that Real Madrid has significant room for improvement.
As highlighted a few days ago, Real Madrid are the team that covers the fewest kilometres per match in La Liga on average, at 96.5, almost ten fewer than Barcelona’s 104.5. Los Blancos are also second-bottom for high-intensity runs per match, with 394.
Possession and defensive numbers
There are further figures suggesting that Real Madrid could be doing more in terms of off-the-ball efforts and defensively.
Real Madrid also happen to be the team that commits the fewest fouls, with 59, fewer than half Espanyol’s 120, yet it is also the team that has been fouled the most in La Liga, with 97.
In terms of recoveries, the Spanish capital giants rank 16th with 302, 38 fewer than Barcelona, while they are also near the bottom for interceptions, ranking 17th.
One argument could be that these figures indicate that Real Madrid are dominating games more often than they are dominated, leaving fewer opportunities to be aggressive without the ball.
However, the numbers do not particularly support that theory either. Real Madrid average 52.3% possession, only slightly more than half.
That is a long way behind Barcelona’s 68.7% and also below Villarreal at 61.4%. Even Atlético Madrid (59.1%) and Real Betis (53.6%) outdo the Merengues.
That possession also allows Barcelona to protect themselves more effectively. The Catalans have conceded just 51 shots, including 22 on target, while Real Madrid have faced 89 shots, with 31 on target.
Finishing not up to the mark either
Real Madrid can improve defensively, but the attacking numbers also reveal significant room for growth.
The biggest issue is finishing. The Merengues have scored 18 goals, 13 fewer than Barcelona’s 31.
That is despite the two teams having taken a similar number of shots: Barça have attempted 150, compared with 131 for Los Blancos. The difference is even smaller when looking at shots on target, with 58 for Barcelona and 53 for Madrid.
Barcelona’s players score once every 1.8 shots on target, while Real Madrid stars needs almost three.
The contrast is particularly clear when comparing the leading scorers for both teams, Raphinha and Kylian Mbappe.
The Brazilian has scored 12 goals from just 25 total shots and 16 shots on target. Real Madrid’s No. 10, meanwhile, has scored seven goals from 41 attempts and 22 shots on target.
The numbers clearly show that Real Madrid have a lot of work to do, both in defence and in attack, if they are to close the gap to the top.
Source: AS
