Who would have thought that Real Madrid would have problems in the midfield? For years, the Kings had the best midfield line in the world, but now after the retirement of Toni Kroos, things are different and it was clear in the match against Stuttgart, where in the first half the Swabians could easily have been leading by two or even three goals. Thibaut Courtois made six saves out of a total of 17 shots that Stuttgart sent towards his goal, and that was one of the reasons Real Madrid won this match. The other reason was Ancelotti's reaction, who changed the game plan in the second half. What did the Italian do? He took out Rodrigo, who had started on the right, and in his place he included Luka Modric, so that the team could play with a little more width in the midfield. This is expected to be done by Ancelotti against Atletico Madrid on September 29, but until then Real Madrid has to play two more home matches. The first of them is against Espanyol on Saturday night.
Maybe we will see an experiment or a midfield line that includes Chwameni, who is back from injury, Jude Bellingham, who we expect to play a little more to the left, Fede Valverde, who will play a little more to the right. He will probably also include Arda Guler, as the fourth element, to be able to form the diamond in the midfield. This means that Rodrigo will probably sit on the bench, so that Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe can lead Real Madrid's attack. In this way, Ancelotti will fulfill his desire to have a little more control over the game and not allow the opponent, through pressing in the midfield, to organize counterattacks.
Will this work against Espanyol? It should. Moreover, the team from Catalonia has a very fast attacker in the face of Javi Puado, who has three goals since the start of the season. On top of that, Espanyol has scored a total of five goals in the last two matches they won in La Liga and seems to be gaining momentum just before their visit to the Bernabeu. However, Real Madrid should not have a problem in this series of home games, which must include a victory against Espanyol.
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