Another twist for Casemiro, Modric and Kroos: How to hurt Chelsea's wall?

• Champions The quarterfinals

• LaLiga Real Madrid survive from eleven meters in Vigo

With only a few hours to play for his future in the Champions League, there are more doubts about who will sit on the bench than about who will form the Real Madrid midfield.

While waiting for the last PCR to clarify the situation of

, it seems clear that

,

and

will start at Stamford Bridge, while

and

will wait for an opportunity in the second half.

The immobility of the Italian coach, reluctant to rotate since the start of the season, contrasts with the constant variations introduced by

.

And this marked dichotomy is even more clearly perceived in the midfield, the area of ​​the field in which Madrid so many times cemented its dominance, the same one that only 11 months ago was unceremoniously disrupted by Chelsea.

The international commitments of Modric and Casemiro did not change the idea for Balaídos, where Kroos once again completed Ancelotti's plan.

One more afternoon for this trio of veterans, who monopolize efforts and reach the final stretch of the course in a situation of apparent disadvantage.

Casemiro, with 37 starts, has played 82.9% of the minutes in all competitions.

Modric, with 31 from the start, accumulates 67.7% and Kroos, with another 31, drags 67.7% in the legs.

These numbers contrast with the distribution of efforts offered by Tuchel to

,

and

, perhaps his favorite bet for Wednesday.

And it is that only the Italian, with 31 games as a starter (64.1% of minutes), seems to be subjected to severe punishment.

The Croatian, for his part, only played 25 games from the start (50.5%), while the Frenchman had to settle for 22 and 41.3%.

defensive effectiveness

To these data should be added the defensive efficiency of the

midfielders , whose numbers in the Premier are higher than those offered by their rivals in LaLiga.

With a lower percentage of minutes, as stated above, Jorginho, Kovacic and Kanté shared 149 interceptions, to 136 for the madridistas.

These figures are equal in

(124-130) and only favor the Whites in recovered balls (573-686).

However, these statistics must be seen as tainted by the influence of Tuchel's strikers, whose tireless pressure already caused disarray for the Whites' defenders during last year's semi-final.

For example, only

8.8 pressures per game in the final third of the opposition field, with 1.76 tip interceptions.

Some numbers more typical of a midfielder than a false nine, the position that the German international usually occupies.

At the moment, Chelsea's strength is consolidated in the Premier with an average of one goal conceded every 114 minutes -only lower than City and Liverpool- and 45% of clean sheets.

His intensity, his very high pace and his security around

are the virtues with which he has been reducing rivals.

And before that wall, Ancelotti's team must find fresh ideas and agile resolution, in the image and likeness of what Brentford showed on Saturday, with a tremendous 1-4 at Stamford Bridge.

Of course, Tuchel's first analysis emphasized the forgetfulness behind: "Nobody saw it coming after 1-0 because it was very unusual for us, but we stopped defending. We were very lax and they penalized us for it."

It was the end of 17 games without defeat at home.

For the second time in the coach's era, which already includes 79 commitments, he conceded at least three goals.

And that is what hurts the current champion of the Champions League the most.

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