Eduardo Camavinga (l) and Aurélien Tchouaméni, young talents in Real Madrid’s midfield. /
Analysis
Without missing Casemiro, the Italian coach showed with his changes at Cornellà that even Kroos and Modric are expendable when duels break down and muscle prevails
Beyond the problem resolved at the last minute by Karim Benzema, the eternal guardian angel of Real Madrid, and the permanent imbalance of Vinicius, who if he is able to maintain his geometric progression will give many years of glory with his speed, dribbling, assists and goals against the white team, the long-suffering but deserved victory of the champion in Cornellà left very positive readings for Carlo Ancelotti. He is a veteran and was a figure as a player in football from another era, but the Italian coach understands perfectly that the current king of sports is talent, but above all physical, that “energy” to which he refers repeatedly in his appearances.
“When the game breaks, we have very fast and powerful players. When you have energy in the field, you are going to take advantage of it. We have an advantage there.” That simple, and at the same time forceful, was Carletto’s summary of the match against Espanyol that began on Sunday and almost ended on Monday. Under his direction, Madrid has acquired muscle in the last two years, embodied in defenders such as Alaba and Rüdiger and, above all, long-distance midfielders with the profile of Camavinga and Tchouaméni. Although it should be noted that these two young and valuable round-trip media have Congolese and Cameroonian ancestry, respectively, French power shoots the leader.
Without Casemiro, sold to Manchester United for 70 million plus 15 in variables in an operation set to become Florentino Pérez’s umpteenth big deal, Ancelotti continues his roadmap impassively. Naturally, without tension, without quarrels and without pouting, he is on his way to making icons like Luka Modric and Toni Kroos stop being essential at certain times, when the duels go crazy.
The Croatian and the German represent the quality, the mettle and that trade to handle time and space like few others, but without them already on the field was when Real Madrid knocked out an ambitious and courageous Espanyol. While the parakeets suffered with stiff muscles after so much running, guys like Tchouaméni, Vinicius and the newcomers Camavinga and Rodrygo, flew.
Victory from the bench
Carletto, again, was decisive with his changes. With more than an hour of the match ahead of him, he retired Modric, overcome by the speed of the contest, and brought on Camavinga, key with his ‘box to box’ starts. And 11 minutes from the end plus discount, an exhausted Kroos was out and Ceballos was in, wanting to vindicate himself and show that he can and should have more prominence than last year.
In his 90 minutes, plus ten extra time, Tchouaméni finished off once, made 69 successful passes, missed four, was fouled and committed five. And in 32 minutes, Camavinga also had one shot, 13 good passes, two fouls and one foul. Beyond the cold numbers, both make this Madrid a vertical team, with almost Premier League records.
With Tchouaméni and Camavinga on the pitch, Madrid gains dynamism, versatility, offensive deployment, speed and vertigo
Without Casemiro, the Whites lose order and positional defence, but with his replacement they gain dynamism, versatility, offensive display and speed. “You have to take advantage of Tchouaméni’s movements forward,” Ancelotti insists, knowing that now Kroos and Modric must at times act almost more as squires for the Frenchman than as hookers with the attack. After winning the Super Cup with ease against Eintracht and winning consecutively in Almería, Balaídos and Cornellá, Madrid set a devilish pace and looks like they are going to win many games in the final minutes.
repertoire of virtues
If the second part of Tchouaméni in Vigo was already outstanding when it came to winning duels and enjoying transitions, against Espanyol he presented a repertoire of his virtues in society. He was very loose with the ball, agile when it came to changing the game, very good in control, with offensive height and forceful when stopping the rival counterattacks. He covers a lot of space and, as soon as he has a chance, he advances without being able to be stopped.
Camavinga killed his opponents with very long and fast drives and Rodrygo, another great coaching success when he came on for Valverde with the duel in the air, was once again decisive starting from the bench with that brilliant pass to Benzema for the second goal. No contender in the major leagues, except for Real Madrid, has started with a full victories.
