The Marked Ones of Paris

The Paris match left several victims in the gala eleven, players like Vinicius, Modric, Asensio and Carvajal (all of them ended up being substituted), who did not show their best level Or, at least, one similar to the one they had been having all season. These are the cases analyzed in detail…

Vinicius:

Together with Benzema, he was the best solution for Real Madrid in attack, the perfect complement for the Frenchman. He had scored the Brazilian before appearing in the Parc des Princes 15 goals and given 10 assists. In the domestic championship the atmosphere was very heated around him due to the belief within the club that the opponents were targeting the Brazilian due to the excess of kicks. He came from suffering an elbow from Albiol and a slap from Parejo that were not sanctioned in the Ceramics…

At the Parc des Princes, he was, once again, the Real Madrid player who received the most fouls from the rival, up to a total of five… Casemiro suffered the most next, with three. And yet, the Italian Orsato left some more without sanctioning the Brazilian. The thing is that Vinicius didn’t find a way to hurt PSG. It was not even close to the rest of the season and Ancelotti ended up replacing him with Bale. He went to the bench with only 72% successful passes and having lost 12 balls without creating any dangerous situations.

Marco Asensio:

The Spaniard, scorer of Madrid’s only goal (against Granada) in the team’s last four games (three of them without Benzema), had earned the spotlight in Ancelotti’s gala eleven with his latest performances. But in the Parc des Princes he squandered a job well done. Asensio returns to the starting box. Inconsequential for much of the meeting and, what is worse, clueless on some occasions when it comes to lending a hand to Carvajal in the defense of Mbappé.

Asensio was not fine either in the balls that reached his feet with space ahead to mount the counterattack. He only got into play 25 times, and he missed five of those passes. He lost a total of 12 balls, like Vinicius, and it was Ancelotti’s first substitution (Rodrygo came on for him). He left without shooting on goal, one of his best virtues. He didn’t try to face either.

Danny Carvajal:

Always a bastion, more in important games, and on Tuesday portrayed by what is probably the fittest player in world football. Mbappé was a nightmare for him from minute one. He ended up giving him a penalty in a play in the second half, although Messi missed it. Already in the opening minutes he was able to do another one by pushing the Frenchman when he was trying to finish off after having lost position with him. Carvajal couldn’t beat Mbappé in the race, but neither in tight spaces. He was seen to be greatly outmatched to the point that Ancelotti took him off in the 72nd minute for Lucas Vázquez. Then, Mbappé himself left the Galician to score in the discount.

“Normally we defend with a low block,” Ancelotti said after the match due to problems at the back. “I don’t think our problem tonight was defense, but it was difficult for us to get the ball out, we didn’t have any chances up front”. It has been a very difficult season for Carvajal, once again, due to the many injuries he is suffering. These begin to be a serious handicap for him. In this campaign he has already had three in which he has lost 13 of the 36 games played by the team. Last season was even worse, because he missed up to 36 games due to his ailments.

Modric:

Nothing to object to the Croatian Ballon d’Or, always with an exceptional performance at Real Madrid and the team’s standard-bearer in the most difficult situations, but the game went over him (and, in reality, also Kroos. Possession for PSG hovered around 70% during some phases of the match and ended up being close to 60%. Madrid was unable to string together long possessions, that is what Ancelotti was referring to, except in the final minutes, and that responsibility falls on the Croatian. Ancelotti did not hesitate to substitute him looking for more vigor in the midfield for the final part of the match.

Seven losses and four recoveries, which is not a bad figure, but Modric could only make 50 passes (although, in reality, he was successful in 92% of his attempts). Kroos did manage, with great difficulty, to have more prominence (80 passes, 72 good). The data speaks of the difference in what happened on the pitch: Paredes connected 110 passes and Verratti 107. Modric had rested in the Ceramics game, but despite that His best night in Madrid was not the one he lived in Paris.