Zidane's puzzle

He Real Madrid will go tonight to the Champions League premiere with a box defense. Zidane has only taken five men: Nacho, Militao, Varane, Mendy and Marcelo. And with them he must form a defensive line that stops verticality and self-confidence. canarinho of the Shakhtar. The loss of Ramos, who preferred not to force on the eve of the Classic (Saturday, 4:00 p.m.), together with the already known absences of Carvajal Y Odriozola due to injury, they cause a real headache for Zizou.

In the whole dilemma there is only one thing clear: Varane will start in the center of the defense. Tonight it will be him against his ghosts. Against the memory. For the first time since the fateful night at the Etihad, he will play again without his squire, Sergio Ramos. That August 7, in Manchester, he threw himself to grab the stripes of the camero and the disaster was monumentalBut neither the dressing room nor the coach doubt that it was just a bad day and he will have a new chance. Of course, the pressure for not being able to fail – again – is high.

In the rest of the defense the equations are multiple. There are four players left for three positions. The formula with the most ballots is with Nacho on the right side, Militao (who has only played 45 minutes after more than a month of injury) in the center of the defense and Mendy, on the left side. In this scheme, the victim would be Marcelo, indicated after the match against Cádiz. He would occupy a place on the bench, being the only relief against a possible injury.

The other possibilities would be swap Nacho and Militao, so that it is the Spanish who accompanies Varane in the center and the Brazilian gallops the band. Or changing Mendy's band (He would play with a changed leg) and entering Marcelo on the left side. That would allow Zidane to have a center back, so he would have to choose between Nacho or Militao, guaranteeing polyvalence for the bench, since both can play in practically all the positions of the rear.

Win or win

The technical requirement of Shakhtar It is not worrisome, but its self-confidence and verticality yes. Madrid has just lost the league to Cádiz and needs to win tonight for multiple reasons. First for recover sensations and feel powerful again, second to send a strong message to the fans, showing that the defeat at Di Stéfano was a mere stumble and third, because in Group B there are also Inter and Borussia Mönchengladbach, rivals of maximum demand against whom starting out leaving stitches at home would be a real problem. It will be a demanding Wednesday in Valdebebas.