Real Madrid – MANCHESTER City: Xabi against his dismissal: final examination with seven injured and Mbappé almost excluded

“It’s a club and we all belong together. When you are a Real coach you know you have to deal with these situations, but we are aware that this can be reversed. For better or worse, football changes quickly and we are delighted to beat City. Being positive is what we have to do,” Xabi said yesterday in the Valdebebas press room, the same place where, on June 1, he said he wanted to see Madrid fans proudly say “this is my Madrid”.

Xabi isolates himself, at least publicly, from the noise around his figure and wonders if this could be his last match on the Bernabéu bench. He continues to see himself capable of rectifying a very complicated situation. Madrid has only won two of the last seven games and although it is true that in the Champions League it is in a privileged situation in terms of the standings, in the League it has scored a -9 in the last forty days in which it has gone from winning the classic and taking five points from Barcelona to four less now.

But that Champions League cushion is not what will measure him when the club makes decisions in the coming days. Xabi is obliged to beat City or, at least, not lose. And if that is the case, the manner in which this hypothetical defeat occurs will carry a lot of weight. Seven years ago, in October 2018, Lopetegui beat Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League and managed to achieve a minimum of calm in the middle of a complicated situation, like the one Alonso is currently experiencing, but three days after his arrival at Camp Nou, Barça scored five and Madrid fired him the next day with a harsh statement in which he left the former coach in a very bad position.

This could perfectly happen to Alonso. He is in an extreme situation and is forced to beat City, but that won’t be enough. It is urgent that Madrid regain the momentum of the start of the season. In results, in image, in attitude and commitment, and this is where footballers really need to take a step forward. Tchouaméni, one of the only four players with Mbappé, Courtois and Militao to be at their true level, recognized yesterday that they are more responsible than the coach for this crisis the team is going through: “Against Celta, Xabi had a good plan. But it’s the players who are on the pitch. If we lose 0-2, the problem is ours, not the coach’s.

An exercise in French sincerity, harmless if they do not then put it into practice on the ground. And they will have to do it against City with a multitude of victims which mainly have the defense in the box, but which also affect the best footballer. Unless there is a miraculous recovery or a risk we want to take, which would not seem the most sensible, Mbappé will have almost the impossibility of playing against City today. The Frenchman did not train yesterday with the rest of his teammates. The cause is not the ring finger on his right hand that was broken in the match against Celta, but rather a muscular discomfort in the back of the thigh of the left leg, which occurred at the end of the first half against the Galicians.

“If he plays, it would be very limited,” the club said yesterday without completely closing the door, but only because it is Mbappé. The call will be known this Wednesday morning, but even if he is one of those called by Xabi, the chances of playing are very low. An absence which would be combined with an infirmary with excess baggage. Carvajal, Trent, Huijsen, Militao, Alaba, Mendy and Camavinga are not at Alonso’s disposal, so he will only have Rudiger, Asencio and Carreras as defenders. He has no other option than to place Valverde on the right side. With these four players, they will have to stop Haaland who arrives at the Bernabéu with 20 goals in 20 games.

It will be the eleventh consecutive duel against the City of Guardiola, who after suffering his worst season as a celestial coach last year, once again makes his fans dream of important things, although that does not mean that this City is the one with the treble of two and a half years ago. The Catalan, as it could not be otherwise, appeared yesterday afternoon in the press room at the Bernabéu and sent a message of support to his beloved student. Being Madrid’s coach is the hardest job, but you know better.”