Abraham P. Romero Madrid
Madrid
Updated Tuesday, March 5, 2024-18:36
He appears in the
Valdebebas press room
with a smile from ear to ear, with the
friendliness
of his 21 years, the tranquility of someone who already knows what it is to win a
Champions League
with Madrid and the
responsibility
of someone who still wants more.
Much more.
Eduardo Camavinga
has become indisputable for
Carlo Ancelotti
.
He was during the final stages of those qualifying rounds that led to the conquest of the
European Cup
in
2022
and has established himself in the Italian's ideal eleven without needing to claim a position as his own.
As a winger, a pivot or an interior player, the Frenchman is always there.
After his knee injury last November, he returned to the team for the
Spanish Super Cup in Arabia
and has started six of the last seven games.
And in the one where he didn't start, in
Getafe
, he jumped onto the field right after the break.
For this reason, in the run-up to the round of 16 against Leipzig, he had to go out and speak to the media.
Indisputable role.
With almost perfect Spanish, Camavinga admitted mistakes, raised Madrid's aspirations in the continental tournament to the maximum and revealed some internal, and minuscule, confidence from the locker room.
«
I have to have more concentration
, score more goals, assists, but especially be more focused.
And I also have to improve playing with my right foot," he acknowledged.
The midfielder sees Madrid as the "
favorite
" for the Champions League, of course.
He doesn't understand stories and humility when he knows the talent of the locker room better than anyone.
«We are a very young group, I
am more used to being with Vinicius and Tchouaméni
.
"We are used to doing things together outside of football, but I'm not going to say who I have the best time with," he joked.
His union
with Tchouméni
is as logical as it is natural.
They arrived a year apart, one as a bet for the future and the other as a substitute for
Casemiro
, and they have been growing together, sharing moments due to the ease of the language and being part of the gang that they have created with Vinicius, Rodrygo or Bellingham.
And of course, hobbies appear: "
I play the piano too
!"
"And
I'm going to learn to play the guitar
," he added, referring to Rodrygo Goes' hobby.
The change of position of
Tchouaméni
, used at times as a central defender, leaves Ancelotti with four very defined options in the center of the field.
A relief when it comes to distributing minutes:
Camavinga, Valverde, Kroos and Bellingham
.
And a relief for Camavinga himself, sent to the side last season:
"I laugh a lot
," he said about the new position of his friend.
«He was in the same situation last year.
When he played center back, I told him that this is how you start.
He is strong as a defender, but
he is a midfielder
», He declared.
That "concentration" that Camavinga requires will be vital against Leipzig, where if he sees a yellow card he will accumulate three and will make him miss, if the whites advance to the round, the first leg of the quarterfinals.