Last Thursday Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio unintentionally caused two effects with their revulsive performance against Villarreal in the Cup. The first, to deny Ancelotti the reason in his bid to keep the sacred cows in the eleven instead of rewarding the meritocracy. The second, to agree with Florentino Pérez and the leaders who pointed to the substitutes as the key resource to overcome the bad streak that the white team is going through.
The defeat against Barcelona in the Super Cup final left many pointed out, but Ancelotti was not charged from the offices. The coach continues to have credit among the leaders, who accused unit B of the squad of not helping some starters who have reached the resumption of the competition after the World Cup break exhausted, in some cases, and without spark, in others.
A team of 15 players
Dani Ceballos, Marco Asensio, Camavinga or Rudiger are the only substitutes that Carletto relies on in a course in which he has turned Hazard, Vallejo, Odriozola or Mariano into prop figures on the bench. The Sevillian has been knocking on the coach’s door for months, who has admitted that he has not been fair to him, even though the player has shown desire and attitude in the few minutes he has had. Against Villarreal, taking advantage of the absences of Modric and Tchouameni, the team took their backs in the last half hour, participating decisively in the first two goals and scoring the last goal of the win. Today ceballoswho concludes his contract on June 30, continues with the open door of Betis, where he would arrive for free and with the certainty that he will have minutes and stripes. Something that in Madrid is glimpsed that could happen, but that, for the moment, is not happening and keeps him frustrated on the bench.
Marco Asensio admitted in the mixed zone in Castellón, where he again showed a good image, that there has been a rapprochement from Madrid about his future. But the Spaniard alternates good games with inconsequential performances. This intermittence is added to the irruption of Valverde, who has won the title along with Vinicius and a Benzema who is not going through his best moment. Asensio was even ahead of Rodrygo, but the Brazilian has lost the spark and it is now the Spaniard who seems to be the first replacement when it comes to revolutionizing the games at the top.
Nacho, always reliable, also showed that Ancelotti is being unfair to him. The youth squad player was much safer than Rüdiger, who has become a usual suspect with Mendy, and even Militao, who alternates lights and shadows behind. Even Camavinga had a good second half when the game broke up and turned into a two-way clash, a scenario in which he shone in the deployment despite having a booking.
That unit B was pointed out by the leaders as ‘guilty’ of the collapse of the team after the exhaustion of the starters. Carletto, in his usual line, did not want to single out any player and limited himself to asking for more concentration and fewer mistakes, after those made against Barça. Something that was accompanied by an eleven that many described as “political” with Ceballos and Asensio on the bench while players like Rodrygo or Valverde were the starters, who has suffered a notable downturn while experiencing difficult family moments as his wife warned on networks.
In San Mamés it is taken for granted that the Sevillian will start in the midfield and the Spaniard will be in the lead along with Vinicius and Benzema. Leaving Rodrygo on the bench, whom Ancelotti paternally disfigured for a bad gesture at La Cerámica. Everything that is not seeing Dani and Marco in the eleven will be a surprise and a disappointment, especially for the upper echelons of the club, who see in this resurrection of Ceballos and Asensio a good opportunity to give them prominence and create a favorable environment to try to close the renewal of two future players who could be spent at the Bernabéu in June.
