The eternal dilemma with Casemiro

Madrid glimpse the derby and as on many other occasions when an important match is approaching, the threat of missing it hangs over Casemiro if he sees a yellow card. This time twice. The Brazilian is warned in the League and in the Champions League. If you see a yellow card against Shakhtar, you will not be able to be in the last game of the group stage against Borussia Mönchengladbach. If he is booked on Saturday against Sevilla in the Pizjuán, he will not be able to play against Atlético (Saturday 12, 21:00).

The dilemma has its nuances in both cases. The significance of the game against the Germans depends on the result that Madrid obtain in Ukraine. With a victory, Gladbach's visit to Di Stéfano will 'only' serve to decide which of the two teams goes to the round of 16 as group winners. And there is another issue to consider. If the Whites leave the match against Shakhtar on track soon, they could consider forcing Casemiro's yellow to ensure their presence in the first leg of the round of 16. But Madrid already know how UEFA spends it if it detects that there has been intentionality in forcing the warning.

On Saturday, against Sevilla, a new crossroads. This time, the ball is more in Zidane's court, who must decide whether to reserve his pivot, a fundamental piece in his scheme, or risk losing him for the derby if he sees the fifth yellow in the League. The duel against Atlético has a special symbolic value, but in terms of sports, Madrid lives in both games if it does not want to give in to the League.. The whites have one point more than Lopetegui's team, but the Hispanics, like Atlético, have one game less than the Madridistas.

It has not been the derby, if not the Classical, the match that Casemiro has had in recent years on the horizon with the threat of the fifth yellow on him. It happened to him in the 2017-2018 season. The paulista endured four games warned, but against Athletic he saw cardboard. He missed the next match, precisely against Sevilla and thus came 'clean' to the Classic, which Madrid lost 0-3, recently proclaimed club world champion for the second consecutive year.

Something similar happened to him the following year (2018-2019). Casemiro saw the fourth yellow against Girona, two games before the Classic. Solari risked and lined up the 90 minutes against Levante, which the Brazilian endured without seeing the warning, and then he was able to play against Barcelona. In the next game, the last of the Argentine on the bench, Case saw the fifth.

Last season (2019-2020) he experienced another similar situation, with an appeal and a suspension in between. The TAD took away the yellow that he saw against Villarreal, so he faced the match against Mallorca prior to the Camp Nou Classic with three yellows. The Barça-Madrid postponed, Casemiro saw the fourth yellow against Betis and endured four games warned while he saw how the game was coming. Zidane booked it at Mestalla and the Brazilian was cautioned against the Catalans, for which he missed the last game of the year against Athletic. Curiously, the same team against which the match will be lost if the fifth yellow is seen against Atlético.