Features
Nico Paz, Modric start in a 4-3-3: How Real Madrid could lineup against Union Berlin
Real Madrid will be in two minds after watching Barcelona losing 2-4 against Girona on the weekend.
They will definitely be happy watching their rivals fail after dropping points against Real Betis on Saturday. But, they will also be worried about Girona, who have now gone two points clear on top of La Liga.
While the La Liga title race is still very much open, Real Madrid’s focus will shift to the Champions League, where they will take on Union Berlin in the final game of the group stages.
Madrid have already secured first place in the group, and are eight points clear off Napoli, who are second, but they will want to return to winning ways, and end the group run six-for-six.
While Carlo Ancelotti has said he is not thinking about rotating his team too much, some key players will definitely start on the bench keeping in mind fatigue, and the weekend clash against Villarreal.
Defence: Kepa returns, Nacho starts
Kepa Arrizabalaga is expected to return to the starting lineup fold tomorrow after being benched on the weekend for Andriy Lunin, who was putting up superb individual performances in the Spaniard’s absence.
“It is unfair to leave anyone on the bench. Kepa will start tomorrow. Lunin? I can’t start everyone,” Ancelotti said about the situation.
Anonio Rudiger has played in all but one game so far this season for Real Madrid, starting 19 out of the 20. He has also played 540 minutes for Germany across international breaks, and deserves to be rested tomorrow.
Nacho is expected to take over his place in the backline, with David Alaba likely to retain his position as the other centre-back.
Fran Garcia could be given the chance to prove his mettle tomorrow, with a start as the left-back. The Spaniard has three assists in the league this season (three more than Ferland Mendy), but has not started a game in over a month.
Lucas Vazquez will predictably continue as the right-back, with Daniel Carvajal injured till early 2024.
Midfield: First start for Paz?
We expect Ancelotti to revert to classic 4-4-2 tomorrow and rest Jude Bellingham, who was on target once again this weekend against Real Betis.
This opens up the doors for Nico Paz to get his first start in Real Madrid colours. He will take his place on the left side of the midfield-four, while Federico Valverde retains his spot in the lineup, this time playing out wide on the right.
Meanwhile, in the double pivot, we will likely see Toni Kroos and Luka Modric gear up next to each other once again.
Attack: Diaz to continue
Rodrygo came back from the last international break fatigued and with a knock. However, he did not get time to rest with Vinicius Jr injured. Ancelotti could look to start him from the bench tomorrow, though.
In his place, we expect Joselu to take one of the spots in attack, while Brahim Diaz will start next to him, playing a slightly deeper role while supporting the midfield.
Joselu · Diaz
Paz · Kroos · Modric · Valverde
Garcia · Alaba · Nacho · Vazquez
Kepa
Substitutes
Ancelotti will likely be very careful with certain roles due to the lack of reinforcements available in the squad. As such, Vazquez could come off for Vinicius Tobias, who has been called up from Castilla.
Similarly, youngsters like Gonzalo Garcia and Mario Martin could get some minutes off the bench in midfield and attack. The former has played some minutes in the league, while the latter is yet to make his first-team debut.
Dani Ceballos will likely get some time to make an impact off the bench, if he does not start in the first place already.
Roma made Real Madrid suffer for over 80 minutes on Wednesday night, and with a 3-1 lead, looked good for the win.
A flurry of set-pieces and accurate conversion, however, saved Los Blancos and helped them take all three points against the run of play.
The true depth of the club’s forward line was on full show on the night as Kylian Mbappe, Endrick and Carlos Espi all scored for Real Madrid and contributed to the 4-1 win.
What the result once again proved, however, is that the team under Jose Mourinho continues to have severe lacunae that will be punished by any elite European opposition.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Roma 3-4 Real Madrid.
A mess of an encounter
Real Madrid simply seem incapable of winning a game of football without suffering and making a massive mess out of it at this point, and the win last night did not change that perspective in any sense.
Los Blancos were outplayed by Roma for the major part of the night as the hosts played with more intent, attacking freedom and possession against Real Madrid.
Jose Mourinho’s men have been unconvincing on the road this season, and last night appeared set to go down as another defeat until a massive turn of events in the final ten minutes.
Earning back-to-back set pieces, Real Madrid managed to convert a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win, but that does not speak to the team’s dominance in any capacity.
In the past, such a remontada would be celebrated as a mark of the team’s mentality, but those feelings do not seem to predominate this time around. Instead, the game is largely being viewed as an outing that exposed Real Madrid’s problems once again, but where they got fortunate enough to take three points.
The signs, at this point, continue to be extremely worrying and Mourinho and Co. have a lot of effort to put in if they are to overturn the team’s situation.
Substitutes outperform the starters
Jose Mourinho’s starting lineup against Roma was a representation of the mental picture the manager has of the team – and was his ‘strongest’ XI on paper.
Summer signings Marc Cucurella and Ibrahima Konate started in defence alongside Antonio Rudiger and Denzel Dumfries.
The ‘Gala’ midfield of Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde joined Jude Bellingham in midfield while Yan Diomande, Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe all started.
Despite all the big names featuring from the get-go, however, Real Madrid simply failed to create any passage of dominant play, nor did they create regular openings to score. Instead, they remained on the back foot comfortably, and matters only changed after substitutions rolled in.
Mourinho brought on Endrick and Arda Guler at the hour mark, replacing Vinicius and Dumfries, and thereby increased the attacking intensity. With Guler on the field, the team finally had a creative spark and Endrick constantly threatened the box.
Slightly later, the coach brought on Bernardo Silva for Aurelien Tchouameni, handing the team far more stability and control in midfield and restoring some level of order.
The arrivals of Carlos Espi and Alvaro Carreras in the 78th minute finally freed Real Madrid and they managed to pull off the comeback.
Every single one of the players who came on played a significant part in the comeback, be it the stability and creativity Silva and Guler offered or the attacking solutions Endrick and Espi brought. Even Carreras was an upgrade over Marc Cucurella.
How much disarray is too much disarray?
Given how Real Madrid’s midfield has looked this season, there will inevitably come a point when Jose Mourinho pulls the plug on the Valverde-Tchouameni plan.
The manager currently sees the duo as his best defensive midfield combination for the big games, but the disarray in midfield is growing with every game and the duo are unable to provide the control Real Madrid requires.
A breaking point, in that sense, will certainly arrive, but the bigger question is how much disarray is required for the manager to pull the plug on a plan that is clearly not working.
Against Roma last night, the game changed completely after Bernardo Silva came on for Tchouameni, and that alone shows how glaring the midfield problem currently is.
Not only did the Tchouameni-Valverde pairing struggle to keep possession, but they offered no attacking edge or creative spark and even looked shaky defensively.
There is an urgent need to bring the likes of Guler and Bernardo Silva into the starting dynamics for Real Madrid, and only time will tell when Mourinho will decide he has seen enough.
