Ancelotti recovers Kroos and Rodrygo to beat a traditional friendly rival, but who beat him last year
“The team dynamics are good and we are prepared for a game we lost last year. Espanyol is a team that fights and we have to get the best out of it to win,” warned the pragmatic and experienced Carlo Ancelotti ahead of Real Madrid’s league match in Espanyol’s fief. Neither the conquest of the European Super Cup, nor the two recent home wins against Almeria and Celta, nor his recent UEFA election as best coach of last year, change the tempered, cautious and always respectful speech with the Italian technician’s rival.
His extensive experience always marks the script and tells him that football has no memory. His Real Madrid hit a historic double last season and have started with two wins away from home, but while the “dynamics are good”, things in this game often change from one moment to the next with no apparent explanation. A priori, however, the merengue team is a clear favorite against a traditionally friendly opponent, to the point that it has historically been regarded by the ill-conceived almost as a subsidiary of Madrid in Barcelona.
The infirmary also brings good news for the whites, who pick up Kroos and Rodrygo for the meeting, although Nacho, Vallejo and Odrizola are absent. The German midfielder has overcome the flu process that prevented him from performing in Balaidos last weekend and the Brazilian striker has left behind the muscle discomfort he suffered since the Super Cup.
A Rodrygo who by the way confirmed to Carletto that he has won more games as a starter this season after his unusual notoriety from the bench the previous year. Goes can not only take the right profile of the attack but also let Vinicius and even Karim Benzema rest.
The market, which closes at midnight on September 1, a day later than usual, continues to set the tone. However, Ancelotti tries to avoid distractions in his squad and congratulates all those players whose continuity at the club is not clear. He confessed that Marco Asensio, who has one year left on his contract, is considering leaving or not, but added that there will be no reinforcements if the Balearics emigrate. He expected Dani Ceballos to remain in Madrid despite Betis’s remarkable interest in his contract, and the coach limited himself to saying the Spanish-Dominican is having a hard time with “the best striker in the world” ahead of him.
With more points and better results so far than the match, continuing the pattern of the previous triumphant campaign, the duel at the RCDE stadium will once again serve to analyze how far Madrid can blame Casemiro’s last-minute exit. Ancelotti admitted on Saturday that he felt sorry for the Brazilian’s departure, but for now, newcomer Tchouaméni has successfully jumped on the winners’ bandwagon.
For Espanyol, still very hesitant to strengthen itself in the last days of the market and to absorb the new ideas of Diego Martínez, this competition is a great challenge and a great opportunity to add the first win after a hesitant start . The Parakeets started adding a promising draw in Balaídos (2-2), but the next day they failed in their feud against the showy and daring Rayo de Iraola (0-2).
“Playing against Madrid never comes at the right time, but it’s always good to compete against the best to get the best out of yourself. We need to focus our energy on competing with our best version. It’s a rival that has improved, and with the confidence of the previous year. It’s a challenge,” the Galician coach analyzed ahead of a demanding appointment in which Raúl de Tomás suffered the defeat.
Source: La Verdad
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