Waiting for Casemiro

What began as a serious setback for Zidane may end up becoming a relief. Casemiro's positive for coronavirus on the eve of facing Valencia prevented the Frenchman from having one of his sacred cows, a condition that on the 14th he has earned hard in this Real Madrid. But that unwanted diagnosis has in turn made The Brazilian has had to resign himself to remaining quarantine in Madrid and cannot fulfill the commitments of his team. Casemiro will miss the matches against Venezuela and Uruguay, both valid for the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualification.

The virus that has the world in check has given Casemiro a break, one of the irreplaceable pieces in Zidane's plans. Although without the rhythm of training with the rest of the non-internationals, the deadlines make the Brazilian reach the limit to be available, if Zidane considers it appropriate, for the return of the competition. Madrid visit Villarreal on Saturday, November 21 (16:15, Movistar LaLiga) in the first of a series of five games in which they played four away.

Casemiro, who made his debut for Brazil at the age of 19, did not miss a call for the Verdeamarela since November 2018. Of the last five stops since then, Zidane has granted him some kind of rest in three of them. In March 2019, in his second game after taking over the team again, he kept him unprecedented in Huesca's visit to the Bernabéu (3-2). Last season he started another 3-2, this time against Levante. He scored the third and at game time (with 3-1 on the scoreboard) Zidane gave him rest thinking about the Champions League game that awaited the whites against PSG in Paris. In the other breaks that there were, he played full matches against Mallorca and Real Sociedad. In the first opportunity so far in this league, against Cádiz, he saw the first half from the bench.

Casemiro is one of the irreplaceable pieces in Zidane's plans. He is the only player on the squad for whom the coach does not have a specific replacement and his presence in the eleven is practically indisputable except force majeure. The anchor of the team. Proof of this is that the team's three setbacks so far in the league have been with the Brazilian outside the starting eleven: he came out against Real in the 21st minute, against Cádiz at halftime and the visit to Mestalla was lost after know his contagion by coronavirus, of which he remains asymptomatic. In the game against the yellows, he was a substitute because Zidane rotated him, like Valverde, since both were practically newcomers from a transoceanic trip after the national team break.

Neither one nor the other have attended this time to the calls of their teams. The Uruguayan has been prevented by a fissure in the posterior tibial spine of his right leg that will take him off for at least a month. On the edge to get to the derby against Atlético on December 12 or 13. A duel for which Casemiro will be there if the accumulation of yellows allows it. The Brazilian has three warnings in his cycle and before the clash against the rojiblancos he has three league games ahead of him to avoid reaching the fifth.

Casemiro is the fourth player most used by Zidane, adding his two stages as Real Madrid coach. It takes 13,999 minutes, 33 less than Varane. Ramos (14,570 ') and Kroos (14,316') are the first in the ranking. So far this season he is sixth with 765 minutes (he is surpassed by Courtois, Benzema, Varane, Ramos and Valverde). The last one was the only Real Madrid player who reached 4,000 minutes (4,080 'exactly, 88.3% of the total), although in the League he was second: 3,090 minutes (90.4%) for the 3,152' of Benzema. The 330 that he lost were the half hour before referred to against Levante, Valencia-Real Madrid to avoid a fifth yellow that would make him miss the Clásico, Real Madrid-Athletic and Real Madrid by card cycle and the last half hour of the championship in Leganés.

Since he rejoined the first team in 2015-2016 after a year on loan at Porto, he has started 134 league games, with a balance of 92 wins, 20 draws and 22 defeats for Real Madrid. Without him starting in the league, Madrid's victory rate drops 8 points. There have been 64 games with a balance of 39 wins, 17 draws and 8 losses.