Xabi Alonso used 15 players against Celta, and all of them, except Álvaro Carreras and Gonzalo García (entered in the 75th minute), were already with Carlo Ancelotti last season. For a year and a half, Madrid has been living in an involutionary spiral where all the evils are repeated in an overwhelming way: a bogged down game, a midfield incapable of imposing itself, regular shipwrecks against tight teams, unbalanced or even non-existent pressure, low intensity and, to top it all off, an unfortunate cataract of injuries in defense (four months of absence of Militão). The club moved from the successful paternalism of Carletto to the direction and order of the Basque coach, but then added a new problem: the lack of feeling between some stars and the Tolosarra, whose authority in the dressing room was seriously damaged since the entity included the public challenge of Vinicius in the classic.
The bankruptcy of the Vigo team has placed the team and Alonso in a critical situation three days before Pep Guardiola’s visit to Manchester City, where the Whites will not have Militão, Camavinga, Trent, Carvajal, Mendy and Alaba. And, for dessert, Mbappé broke a finger. The club recognized that the meetings and discussions between Florentino Pérez and his relatives lasted Sunday evening in the Bernabéu offices to analyze a very worrying scenario. Unless there is a major change, Xabi will remain on the bench, whose position has greatly weakened, even if he still retains support within the management.
The draw and poor match two weeks ago in Elche, which added to the triggers of Liverpool and Vallecas, pushed the club management to intervene against a team which had gone seriously wrong. Warning messages were then sent from Valdebebas to the players – “they must dispel all doubts about their involvement this season, otherwise they will be next”, they stressed -, while asking Xabi to build bridges with the team, where the discontent of some stars (Vinicius and Valverde) was already public and where it was known that others, like Bellingham, viewed him with some suspicion.
During the trip to Athens, according to the coach himself, there were “very positive and productive hours” in the dressing room, in the following meetings Xabi had seemed more relaxed in the press room, with public gestures included towards Vinicius and, above all, much less interventionist with the big guys. He only replaced the Brazilian with everything sorted, he always kept Jude, he never stopped praising Valverde and Mbappé’s goals are untouchable. However, this lighter version of Xabi did not provide a solution to the team’s major flaws, with the exception of certain sections, or even isolated matches, with more energy.
His six months at Valdebebas are also a story of resignations. He preferred to join Madrid after the World Cup, but he couldn’t choose. He asks for reinforcements in the middle, but receives the same answer as Ancelotti: he will have to make do with what he has. And he tried to be an interventionist in the team without paying attention to names, but the club’s reaction to Vini’s rudeness made him realize that he didn’t have all the power. In the offices, Vini’s first replacements had already been shunned.
The big turning point of the course continues to be the classic trap of the Vinicius episode: from +5 with Barça to minus -4 today. To date, Madrid had won 12 of the first 13 matches (with a 5-2 derby win). Then only three out of eight. As Ancelotti was tired of claiming in his final year, neither Alonso nor some players deny that the team generally lacks energy. “We planned the match to play with a different rhythm,” admitted the Basque after Celta. “In Girona we lacked offensive and defensive intensity in the first half,” Courtois said after their victory in Bilbao, where Valverde left a key note. “It’s always good to see Mbappé and Vini defending.” During the five Champions League duels, Madrid has always run less than its rival, whether Kairat or Liverpool, according to official UEFA data.
The mileage deficit is mixed with a declining game; stuck in front of low blocks – “we have to look for solutions”, Xabi supposed –; without dictation in a midfield where Güler’s big bet is diluted (replaced at Girona, against Celta and replacing at San Mamés); and dedicated to Mbappé’s goals. The Frenchman has failed to score in six of 21 games this season and the Whites have only won two (Mallorca and Juventus). They lost at Liverpool and against Celta, and drew at Vallecas and Elche. Vinicius has not scored in 11 games and in the league, he has only provided one assist in the last nine games. Xabi’s first offensive solution is Rodrygo, who hasn’t scored since March, and his summer right-hand man, Mastantuono, has racked up three games in a row without leaving the bench. In principle, the club specifies that it does not plan to participate in the winter market.
This Sunday, Alonso found his pre-Athenian version in the press room: the headlong rush to explain the bankruptcy of the team. While in the corridors we scrutinized Madrid’s woes, he repeated up to six times that the duel lost against Celta and the following against City were “only worth three points”. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.
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