Real Madrid News
Real Madrid confident about defending La Liga and Champions League titles
It is no secret that Real Madrid are the mentality kings of the football world. The men in white have the ability to come back from even the lowest of lows, and their primary weapon for the same is the belief in their abilities.
ABC Deportes (h/t Madrid Xtra) report that there is full belief in the Real Madrid dressing room that they can repeat last year’s feat and win both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. Needless to say, a team motivated to win the two big competitions also has its eye on the Copa del Rey to go one better than last season.
Last season, Carlo Ancelotti’s side won in both the domestic league and in Europe to take home the coveted double. Considering that they still have the core of last season with some quality additions like Aurelien Tchouameni and Antonio Rudiger, their immense self-belief comes as no surprise.
Los Blancos currently sit on top of the La Liga standing with 32 of a possible 36 points. Further, they topped the table on their UCL group too courtesy of a dominant 5-1 win over Celtic yesterday.
The upcoming FIFA World Cup will have a big role to play in deciding the fate of the team across all competitions for the big tournament will take a hit on the players both physically and mentally. Nevertheless, if one could put their money on a team holding their own under a mountain of pressure – it would undoubtedly be Real Madrid.
It is astounding that despite being the biggest club in Spain, Real Madrid do not have many Spanish players to show for it.
Los Blancos do indeed boast of a special diversity in the dressing room, but their lack of locally trained players could pose problems according to MARCA.
The Spanish outlet confirms that UEFA does not mandate the inclusion of any minimum number of locally grown players for a club. However, the Spanish federation stipulates that a club in Spain must boast of at least eight players who meet a specific set of conditions.
Of the aforementioned eight candidates, there must be at least four players who have spent three seasons or 36 months at the club between the ages of 15 and 21.
Currently, only Nacho Fernandez, Dani Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez, Federico Valverde, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Mariano make up the required number on that front.
The problem, however, arises with the condition for the other four players in the list of eight. RFEF stipulates that the second set of four players must have completed at least 36 months in teams attached to the federation of Spain between the ages of 15 and 21.
Only Jesus Vallejo, Alvaro Odriozola, Marco Asensio and Dani Ceballos tick the aforementioned box. However, all four players have uncertain futures at the club and are well-placed to depart in the summer.
There are thus big decisions to be taken over the transfer strategy for June. Real Madrid can work ways to ship all four players out, it would require the re-integration of players like Sergio Arribas, Miguel Gutierrez or Fran Garcia to ensure the fulfilment of the criteria.
With both Vallejo and Odriozola seemingly frozen out of Ancelotti’s plans, their departures from Santiago Bernabeu appear inevitable. Thus, the management could be forced to renew one of Asensio or Ceballos come June.
