Real Madrid The 270 minutes of a "quite rare" and "inexplicable" drought: "More efficiency, less looking at each other"
Chronicle A Madrid denied with the goal leaves two and a half points in the League at Villamarín
In the sports city of
Valdebebas
, everything begins to smell of
March 2015
.
Perhaps because that memory is still very much alive in the minds of its protagonists, perhaps because it is the easy answer to a bigger problem... Or perhaps, simply, because it could be pure reality.
A reality that
Carlo Ancelotti
and his coaching staff lived through, who felt the backbone formed by
Nacho, Carvajal, Kroos, Modric and Benzema
and who observed from the heights a directive that now transpires the
same fear: a black march.
The doubts started with the
Spain Supercup
lost against him
barca
in
Saudi Arabia
.
It might have seemed like a simple puncture, but the physical and mental sensations of the team in
Riyadh
they already alerted the
staff
already a part of the noble zone of
chamartin
.
On the table, the situation of a footballer:
eduardo camavinga
, great bet and great promise of the squad, changed at half-time in the semifinal and final.
The Frenchman, signed in the summer of 2021 and capital in last season's comebacks, had shown himself to be physically superior to
Kroos and Modric
, but he always appeared as the first change when he started.
Camavinga, side
The injuries of
Mendy and Praise
in January they caused Ancelotti to bet on the Frenchman as a left back, a decision that surprised the club's technical management, which sees Camavinga as the great midfielder of the next decade.
The Frenchman was the starting side in three league games (
Real, Valencia and Majorca
) and in the conquest of
Club World Cup
, but in Rabat the buzz about his position already became more latent.
Ancelotti picked up the glove and Alaba's recovery brought Camavinga back to midfield, but the Austrian fell to
Anfield
and despite the fact that the technician opted for
Nacho
in the derby and in the classic, on Sunday at Villamarín the Frenchman returned to the side.
These decisions of
Carletto
They are explained by several reasons.
On the one hand, the Italian is not completely convinced by Nacho with a changed leg, he appreciates his great defensive rigor but is aware that he does not threaten so much in attack.
And on the other, the key point of Ancelotti as a coach appears here, his great virtue now turned into concern:
template management
, a gesture "
policy
"to maintain the motivation of the entire group that is now "worrying" in the upper echelons of the Bernabéu.
camavinga
, a star at Anfield, was a substitute in the derby, played the entire derby, in which he ended up on the wing to make room for the others, and returned to the wing against Betis, where he was substituted in the 60th minute. rest of midfield:
Kroos
He has been changed in the last three games, but has repeated starts, while
ceballos
, one of the best in recent weeks, and
Tchouameni
They have only come out once start.
Modric
For his part, he was absent in Seville due to the accumulation of cards after starting against Liverpool and Barça and a substitute against Atlético.
The only fix is
valverde
, dancing between the far right and midfield.
Where some see rotations, necessary throughout the season, others see an overly political management that does not seem to please anyone in a few vital weeks for the championship.
In the coach's head, resignation to a squad with some polka dots.
Beyond Mendy's injuries, Alaba and, at times,
Benzema
, Ancelotti does not have
Vallejo, Odriozola, Hazard or Mariano
and he has had to bet on youth squad Álvaro due to the lack of options in attack, where Asensio has not been a candidate in the last two games either.
The losses of 2015
The key, as in everything, are the results, a measuring stick for any club, especially Madrid.
And there, March 2015 appears as an example of Madrid fear.
That month, in the second year of Ancelotti's first stage, the team
tied at Villarreal
and
lost against Athletic and Barça
saying goodbye to the League.
Now he has tied against
Athletic
(at the end of February) and has entered March falling before the
Barcelona in Cup
and losing two points in the
villamarin
that distance him even more from the League.
Whether for the same reasons or not, the reality is that March reappears as
turning point for Ancelotti
, again in his second year on the bench.
In 2015, he reached the
92 points
(this year he projects 83) in the League, insufficient against
Barça of Luis Enrique, Messi, Neymar and Suárez
(94), fell in the round of 16 of the Cup (Barça won it) and was defeated by the
Juventus
in the Champions League semifinals (the Catalans also won it).
A culé triplet that was the downfall of
Carletto
,
which did not continue the following season.
A situation similar to the hypothetical double (League and Cup) that the irregular
Xavi's Barca
, who has not managed to survive in the Europa League, could steal this season if he fails to overcome the leadership and the cup tie.
The good of others as one's own evil.
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