A staff of 14

Zidane made rotations his hallmark in the first league he won as a coach (2016-2017 season). That alirón was a title of the whole team. And it is not a saying. The brilliant contribution of unit B at key moments of the season in which the calendar was tightening was decisive to win the championship. Things, four years later, have changed. The Real Madrid coach has faced the last four crucial games (with victories against Sevilla, Borussia, Atlético and Athletic) with a small group of players. Only 14 footballers have been starters in this part of the season, Zidane has concentrated the minutes in a dozen of them and only three others have participated almost testimonially.

If it weren't for the casualties, the Frenchman could have lined up an eleven guy in all four games. Eight players have started in all of them: Courtois, Varane, Mendy, Kroos, Benzema (these five have played the 360 ​​minutes), Modric, Vinicius and the versatile Lucas Vázquez, who has played on the right both as a winger and winger. Ramos and Carvajal have missed one and two games respectively until they have fully recovered from their injuries. And Casemiro was absent in the last one against Athletic by suspension. The vacancies that they have left in the starting team have been filled by Valverde (who has also come out of an injury in these games) and Nacho once each and Rodrygo in two games (Sevilla and Borussia).

With the players who have come off the bench, the cast is expanded to 17 players. Three footballers have had minutes as substitutes: Asensio, Isco and the castillista Arribas.

Zidane has marked with his decisions a certain status in the squad, especially defined in defense. Odriozola, available for all four games, has not played a single minute, despite Carvajal's absence in the first two games. The performance of Lucas Vázquez on the right side during the loss of San Sebastian has been more than satisfactory and the Galician has earned himself to be Carvajal's first replacement. Lucas had just played the previous nine games in full, until Zidane replaced him against Athletic with 15 minutes remaining. Militao has not entered into the coach's plans either, which during Ramos's dismissal has kept Nacho at all times even when the Brazilian has been available after overcoming the coronavirus. And on the left side Marcelo has finally succumbed to the strength of Mendy. Since the last team break, the Brazilian has only played the 69 minutes that he played as a starter against Cádiz.

In midfield, the losses of Valverde (available in the last two games) and Odegaard have left Zizou little room for maneuver, who has repeated the Modric-Casemiro-Kroos formula until the Brazilian's sanctions cycle has prevented him. These last games have confirmed the dwindling trend of Isco's prominence, who only played the final 26 minutes against Athletic.

The casualties have reduced Zidane's options for the attack, the line where he had been making the most variations this season. With Jovic and Mariano in the dry dock, Benzema has not yielded a minute or taken prisoners (four goals with two doublets to Borussia and Athletic). Without Hazard, Vinicius has been fixed on the left while on the right Rodrygo enjoyed two starts until Carvajal's return returned Lucas Vázquez to his original position. Asensio has participated in all four games, but always starting from the bench. The Balearic has added 78 minutes.

Less changes

Zidane has only used the five available changes this season in 4 of the 19 games: against Cádiz, Huesca, Valencia and Alavés. In Huesca with a comfortable victory (4-1) and in the rest burning ships in search of saving furniture. Until the Sevilla match, Zidane had made at least three changes in all matches. In the Pizjuán he only did one: Asensio for Rodrygo. And against Borussia Mönchengladbach two: Arribas and Asensio entered for Vinicius and Rodrygo. Against Atlético and Athletic he did return to the three changes.

The Frenchman is the third LaLiga Santander coach to make the fewest changes: 3.69 per game. Only Almirón (Elche) and Bordalás move their pieces less. On the other hand, Álvaro Cervera (Cádiz) and Lopetegui (Sevilla) have only wasted one possibility of substitution in 13 and 11 games respectively.