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Three talking points ahead of CF Talavera vs Real Madrid | Copa del Rey
When all factors seemed to be against them, Real Madrid pulled off an impressive win over Deportivo Alaves at the weekend to get back on track and hand Xabi Alonso another chance to save his job.
Two more games remain in 2025, and the first will again be away from home. Indeed, the team’s next game is in the Copa del Rey against CF Talavera at the Municipal El Prado on Wednesday night.
Their opponents of the night belong to the RFEF Primera Federacion and are currently in the relegation zone in their group. They have lost six of their last eight games and have also suffered five defeats in a row during that period.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Talavera vs Real Madrid.
One-way road
Wednesday night brings with it the start of a new competition in Real Madrid’s season, one that offers one of the shortest paths to silverware but is also the most unforgiving.
As one of the biggest names heading into the Copa del Rey, Los Blancos will be the heavy favourites heading into every game at any step of the competition. The early stages, in fact, skew the ratio further more given that the opposition are from a lower division.
Yet, the Spanish Cup has a strange curse of never disappointing with upsets, especially early on in the event, and Real Madrid must be wary of that risk.
The men in white have seen their form and performances fluctuate rapidly in recent weeks with no sense of stability, and while Talavera are indeed a significantly inferior opposition, they will be waiting for an opportunity to pounce on what could become a historic night.
Any sense of complacency on the night, therefore, could be punished dangerously by the hosts and Xabi Alonso must be aware of that threat at every step of the way.
The Copa del Rey clash, after all, is a single-legged tie away from home and a defeat will end Real Madrid’s campaign in the event before it even begins. There is simply no going back. A one-way road.
Resting players in delicate situations
Real Madrid have recovered some of their key injured players in recent days and enter the game against Talavera with a far better squad than they did against Deportivo Alaves.
While names like Eder Militao, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and others are still missing, the team is not in a situation as dire as they were in their previous outing.
Yet, there is a certain section of the squad that includes players who are playing with discomfort or through pain simply to help the team at this difficult moment and Alonso could see tomorrow’s game as an opportunity to hand them some rest.
Antonio Rudiger, for starters, is one player who pushed himself through discomfort to play against Alaves and did not train with the group earlier today.
Also missing from training were Kylian Mbappe, Dani Ceballos, and Federico Valverde – all names who have been linked with recent minor setbacks or discomforts.
The quartet, thus, could receive valuable time off on Wednesday if the manager deems to necessary. After all, the last thing Real Madrid need at this point is for one of the four aforementioned names to suffer a setback for over-exertion.
Chance for the bench to shine
Los Blancos’ poor performances in recent weeks have tied down Xabi Alonso’s hands from making any noteworthy rotations.
With the team simply struggling to produce results, the manager has been forced to rely on his best available XI constantly – and the injuries have only made the situation far worse.
The Copa del Rey game against Talavera, in that sense, hands the manager an ideal platform to hand some of the fringe names a chance to prove their worth and make a case to be featured more on the bigger nights.
Endrick, for starters, is one such player who could really do with a start. The Brazilian has struggled to win Alonso’s approval so far this season and will be determined to make an impact should he receive minutes of value.
Franco Mastantuono, meanwhile, is another player who will be looking to make a comeback into the spotlight after his pubalgia halted his growth at the club just when he was beginning to shift to a higher gear.
Another department where Alonso can look to make major rotations is in defence, with David Jimenez in contention to make his debut, along with Thiago Pitarch.
Five games into the new season, Real Madrid are firmly placed second in the La Liga standings with 12 points to their name. Only Barcelona with a perfect 15 sit ahead of them.
The one game Los Blancos dropped points in was against Real Betis, and they went on to turn the tables in their very next game against Rayo Vallecano with a 4-1 win at the weekend.
One cannot help but notice, however, that the team have struggled in both their away games so far this season – first a 2-1 win over Espanyol at the death and then a 1-0 defeat to Real Betis.
Tomorrow, they take on Elche in their third away game of the season, and there will be serious pressure on them to get a convincing result and do away with the away myths.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Elche vs Real Madrid.
Arda Guler deserves the start
Real Madrid’s performances this season have not always been the most convincing, but they manage to find a way to come out on top. The game against Rayo Vallecano was more of the same.
Los Blancos did well in the first half to drag away with the momentum, but they suffered after the break as the visitors began pressing and creating chances. Out of fatigue, Real Madrid struggled to keep up.
Everything changed, however, after Arda Guler was introduced off the bench. Replacing Yan Diomande, the young Turk took matters into his own hands and began creating chance after chance for Real Madrid.
All of a sudden, Los Blancos began controlling the game better than before and overtook the opposition’s dominance, making the final phase of the game easy.
Over all of the team’s games so far, Real Madrid have performed significantly better with Guler on the field. While he has played primarily on the right wing, there is also a growing sense of understanding that he could be the Kroos and Modric replacement the club needs.
In any case, the player has merited a starting spot in the team at this point, and he must be in the XI tomorrow night, likely replacing Diomande on the flank once more.
Mbappe’s away scoring record
Kylian Mbappe has been one of, if not the most important attacking assets for Real Madrid so far this season. He won the Pichichi award last season and is even one of the favourites for the Ballon d’Or.
There is, however, a surprising fact about the player’s goalscoring form that has gone under the radar. It is, needless to say a shocking one and has to do with his form scoring goals away from home.
As matters stand, Mbappe’s last goal away from home in La Liga came back in early February this year. It was at Mestalla against Valencia, and the player has not scored on the road in the league ever since.
After that game, Real Madrid played away against Osasuna, Mallorca, Real Betis and Sevilla and the forward did not find the back of the net on any occasion. Even in Europe, he only scored once away against Bayern Munich.
This season, the team have already played against Espanyol and Real Betis, and Mbappe did not score on either night. Notably, he has scored in all four home games in the meantime.
Having not scored away from home in La Liga for over six months, Mbappe will be keen to turn that record around tomorrow.
Preparing for the big test
The first massive domestic test for Real Madrid is set to take place this weekend when Los Blancos lock horns with local rivals Atletico Madrid in the season’s first Madrid derby.
In that sense, the clash tomorrow against Elche will be the team’s final match practice before the derby and becomes all the more important in terms of gauging the team’s preparation.
At this point in the season, Mourinho does not have a whole lot figured out in terms of his preferred ‘big game XI’ barring the usual suspects in Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham.
The midfield and defence, in particular, remain a grey area in terms of the manager’s pecking order and tomorrow’s game may serve as an early audition for the first big domestic game of the season.
Dean Huijsen, Ibrahima Konate and Antonio Rudiger have all featured as starting centre-backs for Real Madrid so far, and the situation at full-back is not very different.
Denzel Dumfries and Trent Alexander-Arnold have both enjoyed starts at right-back while Marc Cucurella and Alvaro Carreras both have the manager’s trust at left-back.
Similarly, there is a battle in midfield for a starting spot in the double pivot between Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, Bernardo Silva and Eduardo Camavinga.
Deciding which of the players are higher up on the pecking order, thus, is crucial ahead of the derby and that decision may well be based on tomorrow’s performances.
