Ancelotti didn’t hit the key in midfield

At Anfield, the real Madrid reached its season high. He signed his most colorful game (Liverpool won 2-5) and laid the foundation to access the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The football planet praised Carlo Ancelotti’s men, who, once again, in Europe, punched the table. And they did it in Luka Modric, Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde in midfield for the first and only time all season.

That winning trio was not repeated in previous or subsequent games. What now? ancelottI used up to 17 different midfield combinations throughout the 41 official matches he played on this course. He experimented once and did not fail. But, for some reason, he never again allowed Modric, Camavinga and Valverde to rule the engine room.

At Anfield, Modric He used the best Modric. He regained his form before the World Cup in Qatar and ended up being applauded by the Liverpool public, who applauded his work when he was substituted in the second half. For the memory, he left a steal and an amazing career that ended with 2-5 of Karim Benzema with help from Vinicius. This is the best of the three, but Valverde and Camavinga they are not left behind. The Uruguayan and French covered many meters of the field of play and broke to balance Real Madrid.

But why hasn’t that midfield been replicated at Real Madrid or before? And what’s the trio you’ve used the most? ancelotti throughout the season? The answer to the first question is known only to the Italian technician. And, secondly, the core that Ancelotti used the most, in 10 out of 41 games, was the one formed by Modric, Tchouameni and Kroos.

With that midfield, the real Madrid it worked better. They won 9 of their 10 games and lost just one, against Villarreal (2-1 at the Estadio de La Cerámica). However, since beating Al-Hilal 5-3 in the Club World Cup final, Ancelotti only brought the Croatian, French and German together last weekend against the Spanish. In between, eight official matches passed without gathering three and the white team almost said goodbye to the League after playing against Atlético (1-1) and Betis (0-0).

In addition, without them, the Cup final is also in danger after the 0-1 achieved by Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. In none of those three games, in which Real Madrid lost two titles, the trio most used by Ancelotti played almost a hundred percent success.

In the midfield list most used by the Italian coach, behind the most repeated, there are three variants. They play together up to four times Modric-Tchouameni-Camavinga, Ceballos-Kroos-Valverde and Modric-Camavinga-Kroos.

Of the three options, without a doubt, the most effective is the one formed by Modric, Tchouameni and Camavinga. Together, Real Madrid won all four of their games at the start of the season: Celta, Betis, Leipzig and Getafe. However, since October, when Real Madrid won 0-1 at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, they have not been reunited.

Ceballos, Kroos and Valverde They are not synonymous with success. Quite the opposite. Although two of the four games together, they played draws against Real Sociedad (0-0) and Atlético (1-1).

But even worse are the results achieved by Real Madrid in Modric, Camavinga and Kroos. In that midfield, Ancelotti bet heavily on important games and almost always got it wrong: they lost twice against Barcelona (0-1 in the Cup and 1-3 in Liga), drew against Girona (1- 1) and Atlético lost well (3-1).

The other variants of ancelotti they can hardly be counted. pronounce the same as Casemiro-Kroos-Modric in the last five years and in which Real Madrid has won four Champions League finals, is a chimera. The coach of Real Madrid, in search of renewal and rotation, is playing with many options. Mix veterans and aspirants without pressing the key.

so, ancelotti he has formed Valverde-Tchouameni-Kroos three times; in two with Camavinga-Tchouaméni-Kroos, Modric-Kroos-Valverde, Camavinga-Kroos-Valverde and Ceballos-Camavinga-Valverde; and in one he used Modric-Casemiro-Kroos (European Super Cup final), Modric-Tchouameni-Valverde, Ceballos-Tchouaméni-Camavinga, Modric-Kroos-Ceballos, Ceballos-Tchouaméni-Valverde and Ceballos-Tchouamnéni-Kroos.

Now, new andLiverpool, with 2-5 in favor, he has the option to repeat the midfield that gave the most shows and achieved the most impressive success (Modric-Camavinga-Valverde) or use the most frequent formula (Modric-Tchouameni-Kroos) where Real Madrid almost achieved full success (90 percent in 10 games). Ancelotti will have the last word.