The sports daily Marca positioned him as the worst player of Real Madrid’s defeat in Valencia (4-1) on Sunday night. Author of an own goal and a disappointing overall performance, Raphaël Varane had one of the worst evenings of his Madrid career at the heart of a season that is hardly the most exciting for him. “He lacks confidence,” Marca notes. Its speed masks its deficiencies. Bad luck pursues him this season. “
Asked about the case of his holder in the France team, Didier Deschamps gave him his support at a press conference and recalls that a poor performance can happen to everyone. “He won’t play on Wednesday (Editor’s note: against Finland in a friendly), first smiled the coach of the Blues. His team have taken goals, lost and he’s not the only one responsible. I judge players over a longer period of time than a single match. I don’t question the value of a player on a single poor performance. “
To justify the potential drop in form of each other, Deschamps also recalls the pace imposed by the current season, tightened to face the health crisis. The 2020-2021 financial year, Varane started it… with the Blues, precisely. Since September 5 and a victory in Sweden (1-0), the 27-year-old central defender has only been put to rest in two of the 16 games played by France and Real Madrid. And he played the other 14 in full, except for a half time on the bench against Ukraine (7-1) in early October.
Next duel against Cristiano Ronaldo
“The schedule is complicated, recognized the main interested in midweek, before facing Inter Milan in the Champions League (3-2). We prepare ourselves as well as possible physically to play every three days. But the reality is that there are injured players all over Europe with this pace. “
So far, Varane has escaped injuries but less form. With Real Madrid, who were the third best defense in La Liga before their defeat at the weekend in Valencia, the player trained in Lens suffered in particular from the absence of Sergio Ramos during several meetings. Sunday evening, his Spanish counterpart was present but the team was decimated by numerous injuries.
“I always feel more comfortable when we defend in a compact way,” he said, always at a press conference before the Champions League. When the team defends poorly, we have more complicated decisions behind. It’s true that without Sergio (NDLR : Ramos), we were less good. I make him better and he makes me better but defense is a collective thing. “With his selection, Varane will experience a break of ten days. Not without pressure: the Blues are playing this Saturday in Portugal for a “final” in their League of Nations group. A meeting against Cristiano Ronaldo, his former teammate at Real (from 2011 to 2018), against whom “Rafa” will have a lot to do.
