The networks point you out and the statistics give you away. The presence of Marcelo in the starting lineup of Real Madrid increases the risk of white defeat. Zidane's team has played 57 league games since the French coach returned to the Madrid bench and has lost 9. All those defeats have a common denominator: the Brazilian was the starter on the left side. Without Marcelo, the white team has won 20 games and drawn 9. In contrast, his competitor for the position, Ferland Mendy, has a balance of 17 wins and 6 draws in the 23 league games he has started since, 11 games later, he arrived at Real Madrid (he played, coming off the bench to replace Marcelo due to injury, in the defeat against Betis in the last game before confinement). The four defeats he has regretted coming out in the initial photo have been in the Champions League.
Marcelo's performance sparks debate in each of his performances. Against Valencia, their numbers were ambivalent. The carioca caused the disputed second penalty of the match, he was the Madrid player who missed the most passes (12) and the one who lost the most balls (23). He focused 10 balls into the area and was, together with Modric, the Madrid player who recovered the most balls (9).
Marcelo has not been the same consistently for months, despite Zidane's willful efforts to maintain an intermediate status alongside Mendy. In the Solari stage, the Argentine coach has already relegated 12 to the bench for the benefit of Reguilón, but the return of Zizou restored the status of who had been one of his key pieces in his 3 Champions in a row. Mendy's signing was called to mark the beginning of a smooth transition on the left side. And that's how Zidane understands it, who in these two seasons has given 2,204 minutes in the league to Mendy (10th in the squad) and 1,659 'to Marcelo (12th). In other words, the Frenchman has played 53.2% of the minutes in the league; the Brazilian, 40%. A balance that, for many, is not justified by the performance of one and the other.
LaLiga Santander
* Data updated as of November 9, 2020
In the seven matches played between hiatus and hiatus of national teams Marcelo has started four games: Cádiz, Shakhtar, Huesca and Valencia. Madrid was only able to beat the Huesca and lost the other three. Mendy started at the Clásico and against Borussia Mönchengladbach and Inter in the Champions League. Madrid, with more or less complications, had two victories and a draw.