Unknown
“The final is tomorrow,” Ancelotti said in a serious tone before the succession of questions about PSG that the Press threw at him on the eve of the duel against Real Sociedad, a team in the European zone and with two victories in the last two games (follow the match live on As.com). The warning was justified after Sevilla’s draw in Vitoria, which could allow the Whites to sleep with an eight-point lead. It happens, therefore, that in Madrid the urgent and the important come together and that limits the distribution of efforts. A cast that with Ancelotti never existed. Tonight will be a Madrid without more reservations than those required: Kroos does not arrive due to his muscle injury and Valverde, the first substitute in that area, is suffering from the flu.
The notable difference between starters and substitutes that Ancelotti has established means that any absence in Madrid is perceived as very problematic. More if two come together on the same line. Today he will have to choose a third midfielder between Camavinga and Isco, very residual players. The man from Malaga, in the last days of his contract, has not played a minute for a month. He has only started three times on the course and has not played a full game. Nor is Camavinga trustworthy, since the beginning of February he only had two minutes in Vallecas. He has not materialized as a pivot and Valverde has surpassed him as an interior. In three of the nine duels of him as a starter, Ancelotti took him away at half-time, a bad fact. The rest will be the gala team, Praise included. The Austrian, out in Vallecas, was rushing to be against PSG, but his quick recovery allows him to play today.
two dislikes
La Real spent three months without losing, between the end of August and the end of November, a streak that kept them fifteen days in the Champions zone. Injuries changed everything. Oyarzabal, his flag and his top scorer, missed seven games due to a broken fiber. Isak, the scorer, has suffered two injuries and is far from the one who marveled last year. Silva, the inducer of almost everything, has been twelve games out. He has also suffered setbacks for Merino, a crucial midfielder in the txuri urdiñ game. The victories against Osasuna and Mallorca have alleviated two major upsets: the win in San Mamés and the European goodbye.
Camavinga and Modric fight for the ball during Madrid’s last training session.
Realmadrid.com
“I told you to keep your feet on the ground,” his coach, Imanol Alguacil, recalled after both setbacks. He always had them. After his retirement after a long football career (he was at Real for seven seasons and later played for Villarreal, Jaén, Cartagonova and Burgos) he set up a courier company. His plan was not to continue living on football. He trained the cadet team of his hometown, Orio, as a hobby: “I started with no desire for anything more than to teach what I knew to the kids in town.” There he got his coaching card, then Zarazutz wanted him to direct his youth. Things went well and his former teammate in the quarry Bittor Alkiza took him as second coach to the Real youth team. From there he jumped to Sanse and the first team, first as an interim, to relieve Eusebio, and then as a starter, after replacing Asier Garitano. That season, 18-19, they beat Madrid twice, with which the balance is equalized. One year later He kicked him out of the Cup by winning at the Bernabéu.
Isak’s Drought
Imanol has given the team great defensive strength (only Madrid and Sevilla concede fewer goals) but their attack clearly seems to have room for improvement. Only Oyarzabal is in their numbers. Isak, who scored a brace in that 19-20 Cup at the Bernabéu, has only scored eight goals, only one of them, in the Cup against Leganés, in 2022. He has seven blank games. In Mallorca he did not have any minutes. Only five First teams are less productive than San Sebastian,
Imanol Alguacil jokes with Isak during a Real Sociedad training session.
DIARY AS
La Real starts with the disadvantage of the fatigue factor, because they played their late match against the Balearic Islands on Wednesday, but he changed four players compared to those who had faced Osasuna the previous Sunday. For the Bernabéu he recovers Zaldua and Rafinha, but he will not have Januzaj.
Madrid, meanwhile, confirms the change in trend that it has experienced during the course. At the beginning he threw artillery (21 goals in his first six games) and now he has returned where Zidane left him, to the barricades: no goal conceded in the last four league games. Now it is Courtois who is at the center of the conversation.