Real Madrid continues the January slope at San Mamés
Ancelotti’s men, who lost the Super Cup but saved the Cup, visit the demanding Athletic pending leadership
MADRID, 21 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid faces Athletic Club this Sunday (9:00 p.m.) on matchday 18 of LaLiga Santander that takes place in San Mamés, another top-class port for Carlo Ancelotti’s men, with the oxygen bottle that marked the comeback this week in Cup.
The white team needs to wake up, without forcing as they did against Villarreal, to continue in the fight for the League. The defending champion ‘punctured’ against the ‘Submarino’ last day and gave up a three-point disadvantage with leader Barcelona, who will play a more affordable duel earlier this Sunday against Getafe.
Knowing the result of the Barça team, Madrid will jump onto the Basque pitch with more or less demands in a situation that does not leave them an excessive margin of error. Above all, the whites need to rediscover their best version, diluted shortly before the World Cup and after the break, with the mainmast in the Super Cup.
Ancelotti’s men lost in the final in Riyadh against Barça, greatly outmatched in play and sensations, but they dodged the biggest crisis with the comeback in the Cup. Madrid returned to La Cerámica with a performance even worse than the league in the 2-0 at halftime, but they managed to get epic and football to turn the game around.
The figure of Dani Ceballos was decisive, with a brilliant final half hour from the Sevillian giving an assist and scoring the winning goal. The midfielder claimed vindication at a time when Madrid is not finding the best level of Toni Kroos or Luka Modric, but Ancelotti maintains faith in the block of the double.
Those who were champions of the League and the Champions League very recently will have to come to the fore in the middle of the January slope, although the Italian coach has the ace of Ceballos and Asensio. Madrid needs to activate its legendary midfielder, with a Modric who is showing wear and tear from the World Cup, as well as Valverde, a Vinicius who also woke up in Villarreal and Karim Benzema.
A Madrid that already knew about its demanding calendar at the beginning of 2023 has no respite, in which Real Sociedad and Valencia will then appear in the League, the Club World Cup and, already at the end of February, the crossing of the round of 16 Champions League final against Liverpool. Now, Athletic is imminent.
SAN MAMÉS ROARS IN A SPECIAL WAY AGAINST MADRID
An intense battle awaits the whites as always in Bilbao, with the aggravating circumstance that the Basques need support for their league march and owe a debt to their fans. Those of Ernesto Valverde, who have not yet won in the League in 2023, come to the attractive duel with Madrid after losing the derby with Real.
The Reale Arena’s stick was softened by the move to the quarterfinals of the Cup, with a solid performance against Espanyol, but the visit of the team from the capital excites San Mamés. The rojiblanca fans have no doubt that his team will give everything, in pressure and effort, to get a victory that returns European pace in the table.
And it is that, Valverde’s men have two victories in the last 10 league games and have competition and land in between with the European zone of the classification. Yeray will not be able to play in the end after none of the resources to his red card prosper in the derby and Valverde cannot count on Iñigo Martínez behind either. The Williams, Sancet and the Yuri and De Marcos gangs could be key.
DATASHEET:
–POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS:
ATHLETIC CLUB: Unai Simón; From Marcos, Paredes, Vivian, Yuri; Dani Garcia, Vesga, Sancet; Iñaki Williams, Nico Williams and Raúl García.
REAL MADRID: Courtois; Nacho, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Camavinga, Modric, Kroos; Fede Valverde, Vinícius and Benzema.
–REFEREE: Sánchez Martínez (C.Murcia).
–STADIUM: San Mamés.
–TIME: 21.00/Dazn.