Real Madrid News
Real Madrid defender has become one of Ancelotti’s leaders of the team – report
Real Madrid defender Eder Militao has been immensely influential for the team in the last couple of years. The 25-year-old, who joined the capital club in 2019 from Porto for a reported €50 million transfer fee, is slowly becoming Carlo Ancelotti’s go-to man.
According to AS (h/t Madrid Xtra), the Brazilian defender has become one of Ancelotti’s team leaders. The publication further explains that the locker room absolutely loves him and the player has the full support of his manager and the coaching staff.
The 25-year-old has featured in 30 games across all competitions for the team this season which includes 19 outings in La Liga, five appearances in the UEFA Champions League and three appearances in Copa del Rey.
Despite joining Madrid in 2019, Militao’s influence and regularity only grew in the 2021-22 season. This happened mostly because Real Madrid parted ways with Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane.
The Brazilian formed a partnership with David Alaba under Ancelotti last season and he went on to make 50 appearances across all competitions for the team.
This season, the 25-year-old’s partners have changed between Alaba, Antonio Rudiger and Nacho. Despite the changing of partners, Militao has been one of Los Blancos’ most solid performers.
Furthermore, the 2022-23 season has been quite good for the 25-year-old on a personal note, having scored five goals across three competitions. With this, he has matched his personal best figure of five goals in a single season that he scored during the 2018-19 campaign for Porto.
MIlitao’s presence in Madrid’s defence brings a sense of assurance. Now, clean sheets have been hard to come by for the team this season, but the Brazilian has made sure he puts on his best performance every time he steps on the field.
Militao’s current contract with Real Madrid runs until 2025, but he is understood to have agreed a new contract until 2028 with a release clause of €500 million in place.
Real Madrid News
Real Madrid captain Benzema still not 100% fit, suffering from ankle discomfort – report
Karim Benzema put in another decrepit display as Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat to FC Barcelona on Sunday night, which all but ended their hopes of defending the La Liga title.
The 35-year-old had sat out of Los Blancos‘ previous La Liga encounter against RCD Espanyol due to ankle discomfort, but returned for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie versus Liverpool.
While Benzema scored in that game, he hobbled off the pitch with his ankle issue resurfacing. It led to him missing training last Friday, but returned to the squad for El Clasico after participating in training on Saturday.
However, he looked rusty and uninspiring during the defeat on Sunday at Spotify Camp Nou. Now, ABC (h/t Madrid Xtra), is reporting that Benzema is still not near 100% fitness and is struggling with his ankle issue.
It is further claimed that the Real Madrid captain continues to feel discomfort game after game.
Despite this being the situation, Carlo Ancelotti continues to play his ace striker in almost every match.
But the blame must be shared by the club as well, as they did not sign a new centre-forward in the summer or in January when they were aware of the striker’s fitness issues this season.
The Merengues let go of Luka Jovic and Borja Mayoral in the summer and did not sign a replacement, leaving Benzema and the out-of-favour Mariano Diaz as the only options at the manager’s disposal.
Rodrygo did well on occasions when deployed as a No.9, but it evidently clear that Real Madrid cannot go through an entire season relying on a 35-year-old centre-forward.
Alvaro Rodriguez may have emerged as an option of late, but Real Madrid will be repeating the same mistake again if they do not go for a new striker before the next season starts.
