Matchday 16
Duel of great demand for the leader of the League, who under symptoms of exhaustion seeks to open a gap at the front of the table
Cotton test for the physical resistance of Real Madrid. With the white ship smooth sailing according to the numbers, only the restless load of minutes between Madridismo. The usual ones are very good but their accumulation of matches in the legs begins to weigh, as revealed in the second part of the duel against Athletic at the Bernabéu. It does not seem like Anoeta, now Reale Arena, the ideal setting to venture into the rotations, with which Ancelotti does not quite get along, but what is coming is of the style and even more complicated still.
This particular ascent to ‘Everest’ that Madrid currently completes with two victories against Sevilla and Athletic, in two games much better in terms of results than in purely football, now continues with the visit to Real, but it continues then to host Inter Milan and Atlético at the Bernabéu. At stake is the first group place in the Champions League and a Madrid derby that at the Chamartín club they see as a picturesque opportunity to give a first blow to the League with a considerable advantage over all their rivals for the title.
That is why everything invites the starting break of some titular theorist in San Sebastián, something that Ancelotti did not make very clear in the previous one. He blindly trusts his praetorian guard and does not look beyond what happens in the capital of Donostia, at least from the outside. «Today I have to think about whether Casemiro, Modric or Kroos can play against Real and I’m going to think about it. It may happen that tomorrow Modric does not wake up well, feels tired and does not put it. We are not thinking about Inter or Atlético because now there is a very important game and we are focused on it, “warned the Italian, leaving more than open the possibility that his favorite trio of midfielders will repeat in the midfield despite the steepness of the calendar.
The truth is that Valverde or Camavinga, who have already been shot with minutes in the final stages of the last matches, could relieve Modric or Kroos from the start. They are not as virtuous as the Croatian or the German, but they offer dynamism and fresh legs against an opponent who will bet on trying to take the ball away from the whites. The entry into the eleven of Carvajal seems clearer, who Lucas Vázquez replaced with full guarantees against Athletic, and Rodrygo, who distributes the minutes on the right flank of the white attack with Asensio. Only Bale and Ceballos fall off the list for the trip to San Sebastián, although as Ancelotti himself revealed, the Welshman is already training with the rest of his teammates waiting to be available next week and the Andalusian could rejoin the group trainings in the next few days.
Different dynamics
Faced with fatigue and the poor performance of its bench, Madrid clings to an almost immaculate dynamic. Seven consecutive league games without defeat and 19 of the 21 points place the white team leading, with seven points ahead of Atlético -with one game less- and Real, eight against Sevilla and thirteen with respect to Barça, which They also have a postponed meeting, although precisely between them.
For its part, Real is going through a more complicated stage of the campaign. The ‘txuri urdin’ team adds a victory in their last six official matches and a single goal in play in the last four league games, although they hold on in the Champions League positions after a great start to the League in which they enjoyed the leadership in several journeys. Imanol Alguacil has a wider list of casualties than his rival, without the injured Merino, Silva, Monreal and Carlos Fernández, in addition to the sanctioned Aritz Elustondo and the doubt about the physical condition of Zubeldia. All this also on the eve of a week in which he needs to beat PSV Eindhoven at home to stay alive in the Europa League.
– Probable lineups:
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Real society:
Remiro, Zaldua, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Diego Rico, Zubimendi, Guevara, Portu, Oyarzabal, Januzaj and Isak. -
Real Madrid:
Courtois, Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy, Valverde, Casemiro, Kroos, Rodrygo, Benzema and Vinicius. -
Referee:
Jesús Gil Manzano (Extremadura Committee). -
Stadium:
Reale Arena. -
Time and TV:
21:00. Movistar LaLiga.
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