Nine is the problem

Zidane has three ninesHe does not love two and the one who does have a hard time in front of the rival goal. That's how dramatic he is Alarm Status for Goal in Madrid. Vinicius remains top scorer ahead of Benzema, the one with the indiscreet comments, limited to just two goals: the first, irrelevant, to Levante (0-2) in minute 94 when the Granotas played desperately and the other against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Valuable, but also very late and indicative that it is difficult for him to tune: Karim did not manage to do damage until minute 87…

Benzema is stuck and Zidane doesn't even contemplate a natural alternative. In Germany He preferred to launch the defensive towers Ramos, Varane and the omnipotent Casemiro into attack, rather than even warm up Jovic, a bishop and the second nine on the ladder. The last, Mariano, has not been or summoned yet this season and no changes to his status are expected. As he did not go on loan to Benfica in the summer although Madrid put him on a platter, Zidane and the Spanish-Dominican sleep in separate rooms and, if they can, avoid even on the Valdebebas staircase.

Jovic, an outlaw

The case of the Serbian is more blatant. In fifteen months its market value has gone from € 60M to € 25M in Transfermarkt and it is more a source of problems than solutions. Zidane sends him messages from all fronts: with Ramos, Casemiro and Varane in Germany and when made their debut at the Reale Arena to the castillistas Marvin and Arribas before pulling the Serbian in the middle of a 0-0. Mönchengladbach was the last graphic example that although Madrid has a hard time scoring and that 2-0 put him on the edge of the abyss in the Champions League, Jovic is sentenced in the eyes of his coach.

Perhaps that is why the Marseillais did not hurt to allow Ramos to position himself as second nine from minute 84, when the captain made a gesture to the bench. “I'm staying upstairs,” Ramos came to say. And he was not the only one. Casemiro came forward as a midfielder, Varane also fell towards the attack almost permanently (Lucas finished central) and in those as much Ramos as Casemiro came back the match. Jovic had to see the almost miraculous comeback from a cold bench in Mönchengladbach with Militao, another fallen from grace …

Zidane does not love him (there is the famous confession of Borja Mayoral) and Jovic does not take away his reason. Live tiptoeing through the matches. The day of Betis and Shakhtar showed that Jovic plays in a parallel dimension. This is the only way to explain that at Villamarín, in 72 minutes, he barely touched the ball 14 times and gave 10 passes. To make matters worse, four of them were wrong. The Champions League debut with Shakhtar was just as horrible. In one hour he was barely in contact with the ball 16 times, seven less than Benzema, for example, who came out after the break.

Although Zidane says that they can play together, as he did in the Betis preview, his facts show that neither Jovic with Benzema convinces him nor does he serve him alone, given what has been seen. Karim is also not being able to manage on his own. Karim's only league goal was the inconsequential 0-2 seconds before the final whistle against Levante. Last year, at this stage of the championship, Benzema had five goals (including one at Pizjuán) that had given Madrid five points. From that contribution to the current one, an abyss. His two current goals only account for 15 percent of those achieved by the entire team. Last year it contributed 28% …

Hugo Duro claims an opportunity

The funny thing is that the fittest striker is the fourth, the covered, Hugo Duro. Zidane included the Castilla striker in List A for the Champions League and did so by filling in chips or by squeezing Jovic and Mariano, the reality is that Hard is screaming for passage. He has more experience than usual (20 years and has played in the First and Europa League with Getafe, in addition to being an Under-21 international) and his start with Raúl's white team has been unquestionable. Goes to goal per game played: he scored two weeks ago in the league debut in Las Rozas and did it again in the past, against Getafe B. In both games he did not receive very clear penalties and he is a specialist, he could have come out with two doubles. There is an alternative in this dilemma of nine…