Yellow alert in Balaídos – AS.com

For the first time in months, Madrid feels persecuted. Perhaps more mentally than arithmetically, but persecuted. That left the Classic, whose effects fully reach today’s match in Balaídos. It will probably be without Ancelotti, although it is expected that he will undergo a final test to travel even outside the white expedition, with his son Davide alone in the face of danger and with Benzema, top scorer of the team and the League and piece without spare in template. Eight times he missed, six players took his place (Jovic, Mariano, Asensio, Isco, Bale and Modric’s extravagant solution in the Classic) and none was able to score (Follow today’s game live on As.com).

The double FIFA matchday has not bothered Madrid excessively this time. Somehow it has served to get its players out of the shock of the 0-4 in the Clásico with the change of conversation and has allowed them to recover from injuries. Nor has the physical punishment of the internationals been excessive. Of the eleven summoned by their teams, only one, the Uruguayan Valverde, played the two complete games. None of the others went over 90′. Vinicius (sanctioned) and Alaba were released after the first match and Carvajal and Casemiro did not play the second, despite remaining in the squad. They all returned without rushing and had enough training to arrive in good condition for the match except Jovic, who has not played a minute in Madrid for more than a month and a half. Isco, another of the invisibles, is also short.

Rodrygo or Asensio, eternal doubt

Meanwhile, Benzema worked alone at Valdebebas until Wednesday, but he completed the last two practices and will start at Balaídos. One of the consequences of the Clásico is that Madrid can no longer save anything for the double commitment with Chelsea. So Mendy, who was not against Barça either, recovers the place to complete the gala team with the eternal doubt: Rodrygo or Asensio. The Balearic has better numbers, not only because of his scoring ability but also because the Brazilian comes from a transoceanic trip to play only 13 minutes of an inconsequential game. FIFA whims.

Celta has also paid that bill. Tapia played the two World Cup qualifying matches with Peru and Araújo, the second with Mexico. Aidoo was called up by Ghana against Nigeria, but did not come off the bench. Of them, both he and Araújo have options to be starters. Coudet recovers the suspended Javi Galán and Cervi, who had been out for three weeks suffering from plantar fasciitis. Both will be in a classic eleven, as ambitious as the one that the Argentine used since his arrival, at the beginning of last season. Then he took the team to the brink of relegation, found himself bottom after his first game and ended up leaving him eighth without giving up his principles of five attacking players, a single midfielder and two long sides. “I am not a philosopher or a football poet. I want to win,” he explained once on the club’s website to clarify that he is not alone because of the lyrics.

Celta’s season has been a roller coaster. He started with one point out of fifteen possible at the beginning and the ups and downs now have him tenth, in a warm zone, lately with more cold than heat after a victory in the last six games. His strengths are high pressure (only Barcelona recovers the ball closer to the rival area on average), an acceptable index of possession and the adaptation of the Dituro goalkeeper (the second best performer in the League, according to Olocip). His Achilles heels are the strategy and the shot on goal (he does not reach four per game).

The 13 goals of Aspas

Everything under the umbrella of Iago Aspas, the cornerstone of this project and of many previous ones. With 13 goals, he is the second best national scorer and, in terms of goals and assists, the third most relevant footballer in the championship after Benzema and Vinicius. The artificial intelligence says that this is his best season in the last three years and the data, that he participates in 73% of the celestial goals. No player in the League has as much influence for his team. And that, on the way to 35 years, the same ones that Benzema will turn a few months later. One more proof that in football it is impossible to know what a player’s cooking point is.

The big question is whether Coudet will help Aspas with his usual partner, Santi Mina, who has spent three days without training on account of the trial for alleged sexual assault to which he has been subjected in Almería. The Argentine has put him on the list, attending to his nine goals in the course and the presumption of innocence. Yes, due to injury, the captain, Hugo Mallo, relieved by Kevin, will be absent.

Balaídos will be packed while waiting for a win against Madrid, which hasn’t been in the league for eight years. The white team cannot afford it, where the yellow alert has been declared, with a hellish calendar on the horizon and Barça levitating with euphoria.