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Real Madrid are the reigning champions of Europe for over 1000 days now. No club has ever achieved this feat in the Champions League era and it is difficult to see anyone repeating this feat either.
The Galacticos might have been erratic in their domestic endeavours in the last three years but the Champions League has always been able to provide some salvation. The Blancos now once again find themselves in a situation where the premier competition of Europe is their only hope this season.
But this time, Santiago Solari will have to do it differently. The midfield trio that helped them win three consecutive Champions League should now be disassembled. Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro are excellent players but they just don’t function as fluently as before.
While Casemiro was great against Barcelona in the last two Clasicos, the same can’t be said for the German and the Croat. The World Cup winner and World Cup runner-up have been rather subdued this season and it is time to put one of them on the bench.
The problem with the duo is that they hardly make any direct forward runs but they have always been that way. Both Kroos and Modric aren’t the type of midfielders who attack the box of the opposition.
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They prefer passing to the players ahead of them and while that is a great practice with someone like Cristiano Ronaldo in front of you, this simply hasn’t worked so far this season.
The lack of directness from midfield can always be witnessed during Madrid matches. There is almost always a gaping hole behind Karim Benzema and Modric and Kroos are almost always far behind the Frenchman.
While scoring goals has been the biggest problem for the Blancos, the lack of midfield directness has also cost them a lot. However, unlike their attack, Madrid have a lot of options to choose from in midfield.
The likes of Isco and Dani Ceballos hardly feature due to the dominance of the aforementioned duo but it is not the Spanish pair that should be considered – that honour should go to the young Uruguayan Federico Valverde.
The youngster was superb after being brought on in the second half of the latest Clasico. Not only was he immense in defending – he blocked Messi quite a few times – but was also very crisp with his movement and passing.
Until Sergio Ramos went ahead to become the emergency striker, Federico Valverde was constantly pressing the attacking third to fill up the huge gap right behind Benzema.
His defensive discipline can also be proven by the fact that he played in central defense when Sergio Ramos became the striker. The Uruguayan youngster is a very complete midfielder and is one of the best talents of his generation.
In a three-man midfield, the ideal is to have one holding midfielder who guards the backline, a playmaker who stays in the middle and sets the tempo, and a box-to-box midfielder who takes up the gap behind the striker during attacking transitions.
For Madrid, there is only one natural box-to-box player in the team and it is Valverde. He is almost always at the defensive box when facing an attack from the opponents and is also among the first ones to attack the opponent’s box when his team are launching an assault.
This is a quality that no Madrid midfielder possesses and it is time for Santiago Solari to drop one from the experienced duo and bring in the young Valverde.
So far, every youngster that the Argentine has brought into the team has shone. Be it Vinicius Junior or Sergio Reguilon, the youngsters have been the only positive thing about the Galacticos so far this season.
Reguilon has replaced a big name in defence in the form of Marcelo and Vinicius has done in the attack at the expense of Gareth Bale. Santiago Solari has been very brave with his decisions regarding senior players out of form and it is now time to extend that to midfield.
The ineffectiveness of the midfield duo of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric in attacking transitions has become all the more apparent in the last two games. It is time for Solari to take another brave decision and bench another senior player for a youngster who could actually improve the team.
And Fede Valverde is that youngster.
