Tuesday’s collapse against Girona has had consequences for Real Madrid that go beyond the mere result, painful but without much significance as regards the classification of a League that has become a secondary matter for the whites since the defeat suffered in the classic of the Camp Nou. Modric returned from Montilivi with an injury to the posterior thigh of his left leg that makes his participation in the Copa del Rey final against Osasuna almost impossible on May 6 and also seriously jeopardizes his presence three days later in the first leg. Champions League semifinal against Manchester City. The Croatian, down for this Saturday’s duel with Almería, will give up his stripes to Ceballos in the decisive stretch of the season, which can help the Utrerano to certify the renewal with the Chamartín club or raise his cachet before going on the market as of June 30.
«Ceballos is the one who is closest to Modric due to his characteristics. We have very good midfielders like Camavinga, Valverde and Tchouaméni, and a lot of resources to replace Luka. Luka’s experience cannot be replaced, but I have very high-level media and we will do it well,” said Carlo Ancelotti before another interwar duel in which Real Madrid will try to wash away the bad image it left behind on its visit to Catalonia. against an Almería team that will set foot on the relaunched Santiago Bernabéu, after signing their first away win of the season, defeating a direct rival in the fight for permanence like Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.
“We play against teams that are fighting for important things, be it relegation or playing in European competitions, and it will be a game that demands a lot. And more for us because our last version was not good in Gerona,” Ancelotti wielded. The Real Madrid coach attributed the unexpected defeat suffered by a squad that had just added four consecutive victories without conceding between the League and the Champions League to a “concentration” problem derived from the saturated calendar that will force the whites to play six games in nineteen days. but he has spent the last few sessions reprimanding his troops to avoid another vaudeville in the rear like Montilivi’s. «The defensive aspect we did not do well. We have to focus there in the next games, especially tomorrow, and the players have understood it, “he asserted in the preview.
Ancelotti recovers Ceballos, who served a suspension against Girona for accumulating yellow cards and is aiming for eleven. It would be the fifteenth title this season for the Sevillian, who only added two the previous season, marked by the long recovery period he had to face after being injured at the Tokyo Olympics. His coach then recognized that the former Betis player had not played “the minutes he deserved” and apologized.
Despite this, the outlook hardly changed for the Spanish international in the first leg of the current campaign. He only accumulated 209 minutes before the break for the World Cup in Qatar and his continuity in Chamartín seemed like a chimera. However, the scenario has been different from the return of the competition. Determinant in the cup comeback against Villarreal with a goal and an assist coming from the bench, his weight at Real Madrid has been on the rise since then, to the point that the Bernabéu has chanted his name on several occasions asking for a renewal that is still uncertain. Modric’s absence for the next games puts him back in the showcase.
Vinicius seeks to break his ceiling
Courtois and Benzema also return to the local ranks, two indispensable figures on whose health depends to a large extent whether there is glory or derision for Real Madrid in May and June. Also from Vinicius, who after breaking an eight-month drought in Montilivi without scoring away from home in the League, returns to his lair at the Santiago Bernabéu with the purpose of breaking his scoring ceiling while safeguarding his physical integrity. “They kick him a lot,” Carletto warned.
Stopping the Brazilian whirlwind will be the challenge of a two-faced Almería. His records as a local are only surpassed by teams that are in European positions; His data as a visitor is only worsened by bottom club Elche. The victory at the Coliseum helped the Indálicos to remove complexes and took pressure off them, but the ghost of relegation continues to lurk and adding at the Bernabéu would mean a huge boost to morale for the Andalusian team, which has never scored points in its eight previous visits to the Paseo de la Castellana enclosure. Rubi has lost El Bilal Touré and Svidersky, due to injury, and Babic, due to suspension.
-Probable alignments:
Real Madrid: Courtois, Lucas Vázquez, Militao, Rüdiger, Camavinga, Tchouaméni, Valverde, Ceballos, Rodrygo, Benzema and Vinicius.
Almería: Fernando, Puigmal, Kaiky, Ely, Chumi, Centelles, Robertone, Samú Costa, Eguaras, Baptistao and Luis Suárez.
Referee: Cuadra Fernández (Balearic Committee).
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
TV: Dazn.
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