Defence
Neither defence has been up to the mark this season with Atletico Madrid miles ahead in defensive stability at the back. Barcelona’s centre-back pairing has changed with every other game with Javier Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu partnering Gerard Pique. Hence, only the Catalan centre-back gets the nod.
For Real Madrid, Sergio Ramos has been the only constant in defence and the captain is one of the most valuable leaders on the pitch. The two have partnered at the back for Spain as well and they feature in this XI. Though they have had their differences every now and then, there is no better pair to play in this team.
The full-backs is a bigger question. Dani Alves is on the decline and is no longer the once feared attacking right-back who dominated Europe for years. Some of his performances in the league have come in for criticism and we even saw Luis Enrique haul him off the pitch in the match against Levante. On the other hand, Dani Carvajal has played lesser games than Alves and still created more chances and has twice the key passes as Alves.
Jordi Alba has also been found wanting tactically having made a few mistakes himself. Pace is his weapon of choice but he is largely ineffective against organised teams.
Therefore, Marcelo, who has been in fine form when available, takes up the left-back slot. The Brazilian is effective at both ends of the pitch for Real Madrid. Comparing a few key stats alone, Marcelo has won almost twice the tackles as Alba while also creating 27 more chances in roughly the same minutes.
