Features
Three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo
Barcelona’s two draws in their last two La Liga appearances have seen them drop four of a possible six points. Under normal circumstances, the gap between Real Madrid and the leaders should have been reduced by the same number. However, the Merengues‘ loss to Villarreal changed the equation.
With nine games to go, the Catalans’ lead is a healthy 11 points. However, they face Atletico Madrid at the weekend and could well drop points again.
Real Madrid’s clash against Celta Vigo tonight thus becomes critical. A win on Saturday would reduce the deficit to eight points and put pressure on Xavi Hernandez’s side to toil hard against a stingy opposition.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of the clash at the Santiago Bernabeu.
1. A schedule with no respite
The tail end of the season in the football world is always hectic for Europe’s elite. With all competitions nearing their business end simultaneously, there is rarely scope to take a game for granted.
While it is true that a true champion should be able to weather any storm, there is a certain human element to be considered. In that sense, it is inhuman for Real Madrid to play a game every three days for months at end.
The Merengues‘ deep run into the UEFA Champions League has seen them play midweek regularly in addition to the weekly matchdays of La Liga. Add to that the games from Copa del Rey and one can imagine the exhausting schedule that stares down at the club.
Carlo Ancelotti openly talked about the impossible schedule his team were faced with and the practical difficulties of rolling out performances at the highest level with such frequency. Having less than 72 hours to recuperate between games regularly, the risk of injuries rises significantly too.
The Spanish Champions took on Chelsea in the first leg on the 12th of April before facing Cadiz 72 hours later. They again had just three days before the second leg at Stamford Bridge kicked off and now play Celta Vigo less than a week later.
There is an urgent need to look into players’ welfare, especially on the topic of tight scheduling. After all, it is almost criminal for UEFA to not accommodate a team’s pre-existing schedule while drafting their fixtures.
2. Permutations and combinations
Carlo Ancelotti’s only scope of escaping an overload on his stars on the night will be to smartly rotate his resources without compromising the quality on the field. Given the gold mine of resources the Italian tactician has at his disposal, it should not be a worry.
Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger could start as the centre-backs against the Galician side with Nacho Fernandez and Lucas Vazquez playing as left-back and right-back respectively.
More thorough changes are expected in the middle of the park. Aurelien Tchouameni will almost surely start as the pivot on Saturday and look to regain his lost starting berth. He will most likely be accompanied by Dani Ceballos and Federico Valverde in all probability.
Ancelotti confirmed Karim Benzema’s availability and participation in his press conference and the Frenchman could start on the night. He will likely be accompanied by Marco Asensio to his right and Vinicius Jr to his left, with Rodrygo being given a break.
3. The Pichichi race
At the halfway mark in La Liga, Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski appeared as the runaway favourite to take home the Pichichi Award. However, the story now is far different.
The race for the top league scorer is now heating up, especially given Karim Benzema’s red-hot form and the Polish striker’s exponential fall in productivity. The end result is only a three-goal difference between the two.
Barcelona’s target man has found the back of the net 17 times this season in 25 appearances. Benzema, meanwhile, has 14 in just 19 games.
It is said that the French striker is obsessed with winning the Pichichi trophy this season and is willing to take part in every Real Madrid game until the end of the season to ensure it happens. Given his recent record in front of goal, it would not take long for Benzema to overtake Lewy.
The 35-year-old striker has seven goals and an assist in his last six games despite not completing most of the aforementioned matches. He has rediscovered his form in recent weeks, and the spotlight on Saturday will thus be on him to see if he can take another step towards Barcelona’s candidate.
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.
