'The Cathedral' examines Militao

The loss of Raphaël Varane for this half-day match against Athletic in San Mamés (14:00, Movistar LaLiga) will give Eder Militao a new opportunity. A golden occasion so that the Brazilian can show off in an imposing setting such as La Catedral. Varane has not even traveled to Bilbao: in the meeting last Thursday before Getafe he suffered a neck pain, caused by a strong blow to the face, which forced him to be replaced. On Friday he did not train.

His replacement was Militao, who will return to line up behind with Ramos against the red and white lions, although his chamber begins to run out of bullets. The Brazilian, who cost 50 million in 2019 (his big slab: he is the most expensive defender in the history of the white club), has not yet finished starting (the Ramos-Varane couple has been formidable in this campaign) nor has it finished yet to convince. And the patience of the white parish is already known …

Eder has participated in 16 matches this season (among all competitions), with data that, at first glance, are more than acceptable for a defender: with him on the field, the whites have won 11 (68.75% of the total), tied one and lost four (25%). And it is in these four defeats where his image has not gone well stopped.

The first stumble was against PSG in Paris. The whites were thrashed 3-0. The second was against Mallorca (1-0), where almost all the white squad came out touched. But were the defeats against Real (3-4) at the Bernabéu, which eliminated Zidane's players from the cup-winner tournament and, above all, against Betis (2-1) just before the stop due to the Coronavirus pandemic (it got off the head of the classification), the one that sentenced him to the eyes of the fans. It is true that in that meeting he acted as a right back. It was his chance to claim and he stumbled.

Adaptation

Madrid was looking for a move with an effect similar to the one he hit with Pepe or Varane in his day, but expectations with Eder are falling — for the moment — very far from reality. Since confinement, his role has been remarkably minor: he has barely played 119 minutes of the 540 total (22.03%), being a substitute in the six games Madrid have played to date. In addition, he has four yellow cards in the season …

Against Athletic, he will have a new opportunity to recover: against the rojiblanco team, on the first lap, he was performing well when he had to be replaced after suffering a corneal ulcer after receiving a slap from Kodro. It is the only match that has tied white …