There is a mess with Jovic

What about Jovic in Elche seems to have more crumb than what, at first, he was aiming to have. The surprise when seeing the eleven of Real Madrid To measure himself against the Elche team at the Martínez Valero it was capital: Mariano was the center forward chosen by Ancelotti to accompany Rodrygo and Vinicius in the attack. After learning that the coach was giving Benzema a day off to recharge his batteries, logic led to the belief that Jovic was going to have his chance. But nothing further: he was on the bench in Elche and did not play for a minute.

The club’s version when asked about a surprising substitution relied on physical issues: the Serbian, according to Real Madrid, was not 100% and Ancelotti preferred not to take any risk, betting on his only completely healthy center forward. Then the technician followed the same line: “Jovic had a knee problem in the last game he played (on October 3 in Barcelona, ​​at Espanyol’s home). He has not yet trained well and is not comfortable. That’s why he has not played the game. He had a sprain and has not fully recovered yet. That is why Mariano has played “.

It all worked out … until Luka Jovic’s environment began to filter that no physical issue left the Serbian out of the match against Elche, only a technical decision by Ancelotti, who preferred Mariano for the eleven. The Balkan is having a difficult season so far, he went through the aforementioned knee problems (which had not transpired at the time, since there was no medical part about it; in fact, Madrid has not published a medical part since August, when it reported Ceballos’ injury) and Before traveling to Kiev, he suffered a severe blow to an ankle that knocked him out of the games against Shakhtar and Barcelona. Against Osasuna and Elche he did enter the call, but he did not play for a minute. And it has been a month since his last performance.

Jovic’s time at Real Madrid is the story of a disappointment. He arrived in the summer of 2019, with the credentials he garnered during the 2018-19 academic year with Eintracht Frankfurt (27 goals), at a cost of 60 million and the mission to revitalize the white attack, weighed down by the march a year earlier from Cristiano to Juventus. But nothing further: he is in his third season (he spent half a year at Eintracht on loan, in 2020-21) and he has barely scored two goals and given three assists in that time.

Mariano beats Jovic

And the worst thing for him is that the party in Elche comes out very touched, both in the internal functioning of the club, with that buried battle of contradictory versions about his substitution, and in the eyes of Ancelotti as an alternative for Benzema. The coach was full of praise for Mariano, which obviously lowers Jovic’s options: “Me liked how Mariano played: he did well, he was committed, he gave a fantastic assist, he finished three or four times in great danger … He had a good game “.

What’s more, beyond Mariano’s performance on the field, Ancelotti wanted to value his attitude, both when he did not have opportunities and when the first one came: “I believe that a player has to be like this. If he does not play, he has to endure and when his time comes, do well. Today Mariano has done very well. I hope it continues like this. The role is not going to change, it is quite clear. We have Benzema and then forwards like Jovic and Mariano who can take Karim’s position when Karim isn’t there. ” And while, Jovic on the bench and his surroundings sliding that the coach has not been honest about the Serbian’s situation. They are two very different ways of fitting in the substitutions.