While Modric’s injury opens the door for the Uruguayan to return to midfield for the next two appointments, Ancelotti will have another game of sudoku on his hands in the medium term.
Real Madrid laughs at the return of Karim Benzema. Recovering from the injury to his right leg that has sidelined him for the past three weeks, the French striker is set to take on Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabeu next Sunday. This is good news for the energetic LaLiga Santander leader, who could also give Carlo Ancelotti another headache in the medium term, by reviving the fight between Valverde and Rodrygo on the right side of the whites’ attacking front.
The versatile Uruguayan and the equally versatile Brazilian forward have been able to live together on the pitch since the Lyon striker left Celtic Park early this month with a battered right knee on the first day of the Champions League. The two have been starters and prominent figures in the three bouts that the Chamartín team has successfully carried out without their flagship. Mallorca, Leipzig and Atlético were the victims of the rejuvenated canine of the current League and Champions League champions in that trio of appointments in which Ancelotti’s team kept their battle intact without the winner of the next Ballon d’Or and the last Pichichi of the domestic championship. A period in which both Halcón and Rayo scored two goals.
The step forward of two footballers in a state of grace has been decisive in not letting Real Madrid suffer from an absence that, in times not exactly so long ago, turned the attack of the fourteen-year-old king of Europe into a wasteland. But the return of the ‘9’ brings Ancelotti back to the grid.
Curiously, the scourge of the ‘FIFA virus’, which has hit Modric this time, may in the short term spare the Reggiolo coach the pain of choosing between Valverde and Rodrygo. The muscular overload in the hip that brought the number ’10’ back from his double effort for Croatia in the Nations League will keep him in dry dock for eight to 10 days, leaving a vacancy in the midfield that Ancelotti could fill by returning. return the charrúa to its natural demarcation as a midfielder. Although Camavinga or Ceballos also ask for a step, the great moment that both the former Peñarol and the winger trained in the Santos quarry invites us to think that the Halcón is the one chosen to bear the loss of Modric against Osasuna, causing Rayo to return to the right flank of an attacking trident that Vinicius and Benzema would complete.
In any case, sooner or later Ancelotti will have to referee again in the main conflict that exists in Real Madrid’s eleven. The minutes have been very favorable so far for Valverde, who was a starter in eight of the nine games the Whites have played so far this season. Rodrygo, who missed the first two league games due to injury, has started four games for his side and took part in a further three that came off the bench. Their numbers, as well as the commitment and injection of energy they provide, speak clearly of the influence of each on the good progress of their team. But with Benzema again as capo, the competition is skyrocketing.
Source: La Verdad
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