Real Madrid started this season with a very defined hierarchy in the center of its defense, giving continuity to what already prevailed last season. Eder Militao y David Alaba They started out as the undisputed headlines, with Antonio Rüdiger as a first alternative and the captain Nacho Fernandez fourth option, also adaptable to either of the two sides, in honor of the wild card status that has allowed him to have a very long career in the white club.
That forecast, however, has been blown up during the season. The first setback came soon, with Militao’s injury on the first day of LaLiga, against Athletic. Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee which has kept him out of the game since August and until the final stretch of the season. This Sunday, Alaba suffered the same fate, suffering the same injury, in the league match against Villarreal. In his case, he is not expected back until next season. This Tuesday it was learned that he will undergo surgery in Innsbruck, in his native Austria.
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The options on the market
These two injuries have left Carlo Ancelotti with only two pure centre-backs in the first team: Rüdiger and Nacho. “We’ll see what we can do”the Italian coach stated, with some laconicism, on Sunday night, with Alaba’s injury already confirmed, in reference to the winter market. Real Madrid’s intention, however, is not to make signingsunless a market opportunity appears affordable by a proven defender.
The central defenders with projection that the club likes cost more money than they are willing to spend to solve a temporary problem like the one they have. There has been speculation about the option of recovering early Rafa Marin, currently on loan at Alavés, where he is being an essential footballer, but there have been no movements in that direction. Today, the intention is to go with what there is.
What there is, written remains, is Rüdiger and Nacho, with the emergency alternatives of Tchouaméni (he already performed there against Osasuna, in October), Carvajal o Mendy. Although the last two are injured right now and the Frenchman reappeared against Villarreal (he played the last 11 minutes) after a month and a half out.
Better results with Nacho and Rüdiger
The German and the Spaniard will have to be the ones to defend the white defense in the vast majority of games that remain to be played this season. Is it a reliable partner? The data says yes they are. In fact, Madrid achieves better results when Nacho and Rüdiger form its centre-back pairing than when Ancelotti has opted for other combinations.
In the season and a half that they have shared a dressing room, after the signing of the German from Chelsea, Real Madrid has only lost one of the 13 games in which both have been starters as centre-backs. It happened last season, during the white visit to Mallorca in LaLiga, resolved with a solitary own goal, scored precisely by Nacho.
The other 12 matches have been resolved with 10 wins and two draws, both last year, against Shakhtar in the Champions League and against Athletic on the last day of LaLiga, with Barça already champion. This season, Nacho and Rüdiger have been the starting centre-backs in six games, all of them resolved with a white victory, with a record of 14 goals for and three against: two from Naples and one from Braga.
77% wins
In the two seasons as a whole, Madrid has won 77% of the games and lost 7.6% with the German and the Spaniard in the center of their defense. The general record of Ancelotti’s team in this year and a half is 70% wins and 16% losses. That is to say, the presence of the Nacho-Rüdiger axis increases white victories by seven percentage points and minimizes its defeats by more than eight.
The fear may come from a sanction or injury that leaves the squad with only one center back available, having to activate alternatives from the reserve team or relocating players from other demarcations. But as long as Rüdiger and Nacho are healthy, Real Madrid and Ancelotti can rest easy. The numbers support them.
2023-12-20 08:08:36
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