A dangerous contagion – AS.com

The virus encircles the League. With no bubble to take shelter under, the PCR guillotine falls relentlessly. This time on the neck of Madrid, which in one fell swoop he loses Hazard, who offers the complete catalog of casualties, and Casemiro, the piece without a spare, before an adversary with more past than present.

The Madrid They have only won once in their last six visits to Valencia (watch the game live on As.com). In the postwar period he spent fifteen years without winning there and he did not do so until Di Stéfano, a legend on both shores, arrived. Last year they tied agonizingly in discount, with Courtois heading the heroic corner of truth. Madrid always saw that visit as a first-rate port, but now he will face another Valencia, an orphan from Mestalla and on the staff. Now look down at the table, and inward, at the institutional level. Juan Martín Queralt, former president of the club's Foundation and leader of 'De Torino a Mestalla', puts together a project to return the club to the city before anything breaks.

Close to descent

And it is that the threat of sports bankruptcy is real. He's already coming off a bad season, the last one, which left him out of European competitions. It is the fourth time in the decade that has happened to the fourth Spanish team with the most continental participations, and all after the club was acquired by Lim six years ago. In the league, and without having yet encountered the sharks in the competition, he is only two points above the relegation zone after a dramatic summer in which Rodrigo, Ferrán Torres, Coquelin and Parejo, plus Kondogbia, sold to Atlético this week. All five were among the ten most used players last year.

In return they only returned on loan from the previous year (Lato, Racic, Álex Blanco, Jason…). The fans and, in a way, their coach, Javi Gracia, who was on the verge of resigning due to lack of help, they feel it as a drain on the team, now in the hands of cadets. Valencia's is the second-youngest squad in the category. The average age of the last eleven, the one who drew against Getafe, was around 24 years old.

Defensive losses

The team has lost rennet. He has gone from being the eighth in possession of the ball to the sixteenth and now he is shot more than fifteen times per game. The game comes with the defense very weakened by the casualties of Diakhaby, injured, and Correia, suspended. Mangala, already recovered from the mishap that has only allowed him to play 17 minutes in this league, had to stop this week due to pharyngitis. He will be, but probably on the bench, and Wass will have to play as a right back again. His place in the center of the field will be occupied by the Serbian Racic. He had also rehearsed Gracia with Cillesen, which has not yet been released, but an injury leaves him out. The spotlights will point to Yunus Musah, 17, the only good news recorded in Valencia in recent months.

4-3-3 or 4-4-2

Madrid has been in the same as Valencia during the summer. The pandemic forced him not to make signings, but he started from the tranquility of the title and his repechage was high: Odegaard. The Norwegian returns to a list after more than a month without playing. He started the first two league games, but three encounters with Norway in the October FIFA window took their toll. He is not expected to leave and yes to Modric, to whom Zidane begins to space his matches more and more. So far he has played them all, but two seasons ago he played 75% of the minutes and this time he is 61%. Hoy it is given for sure in an eleven in which the doubt is again if Zidane will insist on the 4-3-3 or will return to the four midfielders. The first option opens room for Isco or Odegaard. The second, to Asensio or Rodrygo, because Vinicius seems Hazard's natural replacement, against whom everything blows against.