Ceballos does not even have the team in reserve. Although Ancelotti He said that it was going to be “important in the final stretch of the season”, weeks go by and it still isn’t. The utrerano awaits an opportunity that does not come. Neither with the calendar compressed by two highly demanding visits to Paris, nor when the cupbearer’s dream was still alive and the visit to San Mamés tightened the screws, nor with the team exhausted after a month of January of enormous demand, nothing, it does not enter the scene. something does not see Carletto in him that stops him when it comes to giving him stripes, even if it is, in a rotation role that Valverde outshines.
He returned to Alcoy after 167 days of absencethose that elapsed since he injured in the Olympic Games, against Egypt, in the first match of the group stage, on July 22, 2021. He forced himself to play the qualifiers, which aggravated a sprain in his left ankle. When being examined in Madrid, he was diagnosed with a complete rupture of two ligaments. The illness was worse and he was away from the group for months, working alone to fully recover mobility in the area.
He did and came back… With rudeness. On January 5, three kings eve, he stepped on a pitch after 167 days and it was with controversy. As some Gol images captured, the midfielder snubbed Ancelotti before entering the field in the 85th minute, symptom of his anger at being called so late. The cool-tempered Italian tried simply to calm him down and cheer him up. It was a strange situation, since that moment should have been one of joy for his return and, nevertheless, he was confused by the reaction of the 19.
Ceballos snubbed Ancelotti before entering the 85th minute.
The fact is that in that minute 85 Ceballos returned and since then he has only played 65 ‘officials. To those 5 minutes from Alcoy we must add 22′ in the next game, the win at the Bernabéu against Valencia, half an hour at the Martínez Valero in the next Cup round (he left to play extra time, replacing Kroos), 4′ against Granada on the day of Asensio’s blow and the most recent, this Saturday, against Alavés: 9′. In total, just over an hour of play divided into five appointments. Impossible to catch up. Almost impossible to prove anything.
A gear problem
It is difficult for Ancelotti to change and that is nothing new. The data, in fact, reflects it. As AS told in an X-ray a few days ago, there are nine players who are below 30% of the possible minutes: Hazard (27%), camavinga (26%), Marcelo (16%), Jovic (14%), Isco (10%), Bale (8%), Lunin (6%), Mariano (5%) and Ceballos (2%). You can read this data in more detail here. The rotations are not only conspicuous by their absence, but the very changes, when they arrive, are late, offering residual minutes to the supporting actors of a staff that lives -and survives- with the gasoline of the same 11-13 protagonists. There is only one player in the current squad who has played less than him: Vallejo (14′ in all competitions).
His best season: 2018-19
Of the three courses that he has passed as a white, that one obtained his best numbers. He played up to 34 games between all competitions, scoring three goals and giving two assists. His good work opened the doors of The Red: Won the European Under-21, played two friendlies (Bosnia-Herzegovina and Wales) and three official matches, corresponding to the Nations League. The previous season, that of his arrival, had less prominence: 22 games and two goals, both in Mendizorroza to beat Alavés by the minimum.
He flew to London to look for life and shone. With Arsenal he played 4,711 minutes, spread over 77 games between two campaigns. A brief stay that allowed him to become the leader of the midfield and get closer to his best version, the one that dazzled in 2016 when he still wore the Betis jersey. He fulfilled in the Emirates, Madrid took him back… And he disappeared. In the summer he was the leader of Spain in the Olympic Games, he returned injured and when he recovered, the door was closed. Ancelotti, despite fatigue, does not open it. The opportunity does not come to him.