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SOU
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is under immense pressure to prove that he is still the right man to lead the Bernabeu side to greatness.
Ancelloti looked dejected as Madrid ground a 1-0 win against Alaves on Sunday and the worry was evident at the Mendizorroza Stadium.
It might have been because he was banned and so unable to influence proceedings as his side were hanging on to a 1-0 lead with 10 men after Kylian Mbappe had been sent off.
But it could also have been because his hold on the Real Madrid job is loosening. He knows Xabi Alonso is waiting in the wings and Champions League exit at the hands of Arsenal on Wednesday night, along with a failure to catch Barcelona in LaLiga — they are four points clear with seven matches to play — will mean Madrid change coaches this summer.
The Italian has struggled all season with the conundrum of a top-heavy, woefully imbalanced squad and is no closer to coming up with the answer, hours ahead of the biggest game of the season according to the .
The team’s famed history of epic comebacks in this competition, and the possibility that Mbappe and Vinicius Jr will click in a way they have not really done all season, are branches for the 64-year-old to cling to.
He has started saying out loud what he has been thinking since the summer, when Toni Kroos was not replaced and he was tasked with accommodating Vinicius and Mbappe’s fierce talents, tremendous egos and preference for playing in the same part of the pitch, without a sufficiently robust midfield or defence behind them.
Mbappe let his team-mates down at the weekend. His violent lunge could have broken Antonio Blanco’s leg and the resulting red card left Madrid struggling, just when they needed an easy afternoon.
They did win the game, with their first clean sheet in 10 matches. At the end, Antonio Rudiger could be seen shouting ‘remontada!’ (‘comeback’) as he went to greet Madrid’s travelling support. They held up banners featuring the same word. It is all they have talked about since the Emirates debacle.
Ancelotti is pondering various changes to his first leg line-up. He has his best defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni back from suspension and could move Fede Valverde into midfield alongside him in the absence of Eduardo Camavinga, who is banned after his late red card at the Emirates.
Valverde, the dynamic Uruguayan, has far greater influence from the middle of the pitch, although it will mean converted winger and unconvincing defender Lucas Vazquez has to start at right back.
The alternative is to start former Arsenal midfielder Dani Ceballos, who is back after a six-week lay-off.
He had been the closest thing Ancelotti has found to the departed Kroos before his hamstring injury. Mbappe’s red card on Sunday ruined plans to give him a half hour run out.
Whatever side Ancelotti picks, the ‘Four Fantastics’ look non- negotiable. Mbappe, Vinicius, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham have scored 80 goals between them but, Bellingham aside, the work ethic is often conspicuous by its absence and against better teams Madrid have been overwhelmed because of it.
