According to a recent survey conducted by AS, football fans preferred Alvaro Morata to Karim Benzema up front for Real Madrid. The poll was conducted by the Spanish newspaper yesterday and asked fans of the Bernabeu club to vote for their preferred starting lineup for the game against Eibar this weekend.
The poll revealed that the immensely successful trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Karim Benzema, dubbed as ‘BBC’, was not the fan favourite anymore with Morata receiving 3271 votes to start up front to just 1429 won by Benzema. Whether coach Zinedine Zidane takes the fans opinions into consideration while deciding his final lineup against Eibar remains to be seen.
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In midfield, the fans have strongly backed the versatile duo of Luka Modric-Toni Kroos, with the former receiving 4548 votes and the latter not far behind with 4274.
Surprisingly, though, struggling James Rodriguez received more votes than Isco with 2,324 to the Spaniard’s 2012. The Colombian has been largely ignored by Zidane this season but the polls clearly indicate that fans still have trust in the 25-year-old.
Varane-Pepe over Sergio Ramos
The fans also voted in favour of a Varane-Pepe centre-back partnership which would leave Sergio Ramos out of the lineup. Ramos has had a relatively poor start to the season, especially defensively, although he has contributed with a couple of goals offensively.
Raphael Varane got the backing of 4004 Madridistas while Pepe followed closely behind with 3513 votes. The 30-year-old Ramos was left way behind with just 2529 votes. Right back Nacho, too, did well in the polls, winning the backing of 2529 fans.
Drop in form for Madrid
Real Madrid has suffered a slump in recent form with 3 consecutive draws. A 1-1 draw at home against Villarreal was followed by a shock 2-2 at Las Palmas and Borussia Dortmund was the most recent team to share the spoils with Zidane’s men as they secured a 2-2 draw in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Los Blancos still sit on top of the La Liga table but if their current run of form continues, it will not be long before Barcelona and Atletico knock them off their perch.
Madrid host Eibar on Sunday evening while Atletico travels to Valencia and Barcelona face a tricky game away at Celtic Vigo.
