Ancelotti’s diagnosis: Real Madrid’s lights and shadows at the Club World Cup

among the positive

-VALVERDE IS BACK TO STRENGTH. The Uruguayan was emotionally and physically affected by the World Cup, where Uruguay did not go beyond the first stage. Additionally, Little Bird suffered from a family issue (a complicated pregnancy) that seemed to eventually resolve favorably. Valverde has scored three goals in two games and has already reached eleven goals this season. “Valverde is back and that’s very important to us. He and his family have recovered from a problem and these are more important than goals”, Italian pointed.

-CEBALLOS’ CLAIMS. Sevillian punched the table Ancelotti wanted. While Carletto oscillates between ownership and driving role, Sevillian has associated quality minutes with too much importance on the team. His teammates were the first to celebrate the Andalusian’s step forward, and the coach used it to rest an exhausted Modric. It is unknown whether he will renew his white-only contract or choose another offer.

-VINICIUS FOCUS ON SPORTS. The Brazilian player showed his best self once again when he stepped away from the controversy and controversy surrounding him in LaLiga. He scored in both games and once again showed the good compatibility between the duo with Benzema, whom he assisted in the final. The French scored the first goal against Al-Hilal and the Brazilian finished. Karim’s was the opposite. Ancelotti wanted to emphasize this at the end of the finale: “We showed the quality of the team on the offensive side. That’s what we had to do. Vinicius, Valverde and Benzema showed a lot of action and their quality kept the goals coming.” He won’t be playing, and Carletto will give him two days off to disconnect.

-CARLETTO’S BOILER TAKES HEAT. The Italian prepares the team for the decisive stretch of the season. He’s survived injuries, Pintus adapts to players like Modric or Tchouaméni who are suspended from the World Cup, there are players like Ceballos who have improved their peak form to reach the best football moments… Ancelotti remains anthropologically optimistic about the outcome of the course After winning the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup, he is still alive in the Champions League (eighth round against Liverpool) and the Cup (semi-final with the second match against Barça at the Bernabéu). The league is complex but they won’t throw in the towel until it’s mathematically impossible. As he warned at the end of the final with the Saudis, “The boiler is taking heat”.

among the negative

– DEFENSE WEAKNESS TO ALARM: The absence of Courtois, Militao, Mendy or Carvajal (in the first game) left an immediate defense against Al-Ahly, where Lunin succeeded and played against Al-Hilal, which took a lot of damage. The Saudis, and especially Vietto, portrayed the shame of an Alaba far from being a dissolving defender. And to this is added a Camavinga commitment with a lot of experience as a winger, but with some obvious defensive gaps in the lane. It’s really worrying how easy it is to leave this Madrid behind. And Ancelotti, who was very angry with the three Saudi goals in the final, took it well.

-TCHOUAMÉNI AWESOME: The Frenchman is not the person before the World Cup. He came with another attitude. Ignorant, less focused on what he has to do. And he was given a touch from the club on and off the field. He has already apologized for going to Paris to watch an NBA game while his teammates risked their lives in the Cup against Villarreal. The pivot also seems confused in terms of football, which is something the defensive team has noticed. Kroos and Modric corrected him, and Ancelotti spoke to him. Madrid need the best Tchouaméni if ​​they want to fight for the Champions League and knock out Barça in the Cup. The French pulled out of the final in Rabat with a calf injury that didn’t seem important.

-16 PLAYER SQUAD: Carletto has made it clear that he has 16 players in Rabat: Courtois, Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Nacho, Modric, Kroos, Tchouaméni, Valverde, Benzema and Valverde. The starting eleven and five substitutes: Ceballos, Rodrygo, Asensio, Camavinga and Rudiger. Lunin is added only if the Belgian goalkeeper is injured. And he will die with them in this season finale. Hazard, Mariano, Odriozola or Vallejo aren’t giving him what he’s looking for, and for now Lucas Vázquez and Mendy are injured for a few weeks. An unstable roster where the Italian juggles and improvises with solutions like Camavinga playing as a left-back or Rodrygo playing at 9.

-CONTRACT UNCERTAINTY: As the weeks go by, more is said about the future of the seven free-to-play players this summer. Benzema, Modric, Kroos, Asensio, Nacho, Ceballos and Mariano. Only the last one is obviously not going to continue because Real Madrid have been trying to get rid of it for a while. Others are interested in the club but play chess to renew it. Benzema and Modric received a juicy offer from Saudi Arabia (60 million clean in two years), but Ancelotti confirmed that Karim will stay for a year. The Croat has yet to receive a call from the club like Kroos or Ceballos. Asensio turned down the last offer and he has girlfriends on the market. And Nacho has lost his reputation in the team and could go to Italy or the Premier League. All this atmosphere of uncertainty can make the atmosphere rare, no matter how professional the players are.