Dani Carvajal’s injury at the end of the match against Villarreal (2-0 victory) tarnished an evening where everything had gone rather well.
At the end of a relatively convincing 2-0 victory against Villarreal with goals from Valverde and Vinicius, we will unfortunately especially remember the images of Dani Carvajal screaming in pain following a collision with an opposing player. And the worst that we could have feared was confirmed: rupture of the knee ligaments.
“He is a fundamental player for us. Dani is sad, disappointed but there is not much to do,” regretted Ancelotti, once again forced to shake up his starting XI for the months to come. The Spaniard will not play again this season, so we will have to find a way to compensate for his absence. Several options are available to the Madrid coach.
The most likely option
At the right-back position, the most natural choice is obviously Lucas Vázquez since he has been number 2 behind Dani for several years. He is originally a right winger, but since Zidane started him in this position, his performances have been quite interesting. We particularly remember his excellent performance during the Clasico last season at the Bernabéu won 3-2 by Real Madrid with a goal, an assist and a penalty obtained by Lucas, just that.
Known for his offensive inclinations, the Spanish right defender, on the other hand, has difficulties from a purely defensive point of view in positioning and in duels, which is still handicapping for a full-back. “The absence of the only right-back means that Lucas Vázquez is our best option,” Ancelotti confirmed at a press conference a few minutes after this hard blow.
Militao on the right and Tchouaméni in the axis
Another possibility, put Militao as right back and replace him with Tchouaméni in central defense. It’s a position that the Brazilian knows very well since he played in this position in his club Sao Paulo but also at FC Porto. In addition, he has already played 3 matches in this role at Real Madrid: in 2019-2020 against Betis in La Liga (defeat) and in 2022-2023, twice against Villarreal (loss in La Liga and victory in the Copa). This option would allow Real, in any case, to be more solid defensively than with Lucas but, on the other hand, less offensive in the right lane than with the Spaniard.
Turn towards the Cantera
Even if the two solutions mentioned above seem to be the most likely, we must not forget the possibility of bringing in a young person from the Fábrica. With Castilla, there are two players who stand out. The first is David Jiménez (20 years old). The Madrilenian, who was already in the group against Alavés with Real Madrid, is a very offensive full-back with good ball technique. In Raúl’s youth team, he even plays as a winger, which allows him to exploit his percussion skills.
He had his best season with Arbeloa (treble in 2022-2023) during which he scored 6 goals and made nearly 20 assists. Today he is in competition with Loren Zúñiga, regular right back for Castilla, who has the distinction of being the oldest player in the training center where he arrived at the age of 7. He even started the Clasico against FC Barcelona last summer during Real Madrid’s American tour. “When I joined the youngsters, I didn’t even imagine being able to make my debut at Real Madrid but you have to work to make your dreams come true and sometimes they come true,” he said following this match.
The transfer market
Real are generally reluctant to turn to the winter transfer window to recruit new players. He did not do it last season despite the long absences of Courtois, Militao and Alaba, but this time, the circumstances are such that the Madrid management would consider recruiting a full-back but also a central this winter, says Marca .
Asked about this last night, Carlo said: “We have to keep in mind that the transfer window is closed and that there are not many options. We have to manage the squad well”. the club considers Alexander-Arnold (25) as a project for the future, his contract ending next summer, but there is very little chance that the England international will arrive in Madrid in January…
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