Real Madrid need the win over Celtic to clinch first place in their group in the Champions League and get out of the doldrums
Immersed in the first bump of the season, Real Madrid return to the scene with the aim of deactivating the warning. The setbacks against Leipzig and Girona have clouded the intimidating image Carlo Ancelotti’s squad presented in the first two months of the course and confronted him with the need to stop the bleeding as soon as possible. Starting with the Champions League, where he plays against Celtic with the aim of maintaining the privileged position he occupies in his favorite tournament.
As last week’s defeat in Germany forces the whites, who had already qualified, to beat the eliminated Catholic team from Glasgow at the Santiago Bernabéu to seal the posted poster with no further conditions in the draw for the round of 16 of the competition that supports history.
If not, it will depend on what is happening in Warsaw at the same time. There, a Leipzig who would benefit from a draw with Shakhtar to certify the passport for the first round of the qualifying rounds will rush their options to consume the ‘sorpasso’ to the whites, who necessarily win a victory for the squad being coached by Marco Rose in the Ukrainian team, still a candidate to overcome the first cut, combined with a setback from the king of Europe in his fief. Difficult, but doable.
Those are the cliques chasing a Real Madrid team that put in an impeccable first round with nine points, but scratched just one new unit in the last two games. The painfully accomplished draw against Shakhtar with a goal from Rüdiger in extra time and the surrender against Leipzig eight days ago have left Ancelotti’s soldiers in a more compromised situation than expected, far from having done their homework. he can’t afford the slightest relaxation now in his notebook.
Not in vain, finishing the phase on the second position could doom him to a hellish combination on the first change. Suffice it to remember that superpowers such as Bayern Munich, Chelsea or Manchester City have already accredited the ticket as champions of their respective groups to limit the importance of what’s at stake at the Santiago Bernabéu this Wednesday.
Such a scenario tends to lead Ancelotti to train with his reference legionnaires, despite the fact that in a different context Celtic would have been a favorable opponent for the coach to put his Praetorians to rest in view of that World Cup that is taking up more and more space in their minds. head and the opportunity to defend itself against a B unit stranded in the defeat against Leipzig.
Rüdiger’s race, Lucas Vázquez and Nacho’s efforts, Camavinga’s class flashes or Asensio’s sparks are not enough to narrow the gap that separates the transalpine coach’s regular troops from his reservists. And Celtic’s is not exactly a small fight within that war without a quartet that always ends in the Champions League. But it should also be borne in mind that the room for maneuver on the local side is determined by the infirmary, in which Tchouaméni continues and which Hazard joined on Tuesday. Benzema returned to the call, but is still among cotton.
Without all these worries, Celtic arrive in Madrid, backed by nearly 10,000 fans who are keeping the security forces wary of a match that has been labeled high risk. Some 7,000 travel to the Spanish capital without a ticket, despite the fact that their squad plays no more than the always attractive economic loot that points to the UEFA star tournament and the prestige that Ange’s team would bring. victory against the fourteen-time king of Europe.
The Scottish team has not won a Champions League game since 2017 and has signed a gray group stage that only graces the tables it made in its two clashes with Shakhtar. But in Glasgow, he already gave Real Madrid a scare before the whites broke free in the second half with goals from Vinicius, Modric and Hazard. Now he visits Chamartín with nothing to lose, which could make him more dangerous, despite the loss to injury of Callum McGregor, captain and usual chief of operations for the Bhoys in the engine room.
Source: La Verdad
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