Real Madrid have been suffering considerably at the hands of their opponents of late, looking a yard off the pace and a step slower to every ball.
When they went behind against Villarreal and Barcelona, this became particularly evident. Real Madrid’s attempts to press higher up the pitch were futile as their opponents scythed through the press with ease.
Part of that is down to injuries, with David Alaba and Aurelien Tchouameni’s absences severely damaging their side in recent times. Yet it their physical struggles, as unwelcome as they are, were anticipated.
Carlo Ancelotti had predicted his side might not be at their peak in January before the World Cup, and Marca confirm that they will not be at their peak fitness level until four weeks time – on schedule for their Champions League tie against Liverpool.
Real Madrid did not undergo a strenuous preseason in July and August, but fitness coach had planned for a second preseason after the World Cup, albeit with specific plans for each player. Fitness coach Antonio Pintus did a stellar job last season in ensuring Carlo Ancelotti had all of his stars available and fit in April and May last season, but is facing an unusual situation this year.
The result in theory will mean that Real Madrid will arrive at the crunch period of the season at peak fitness. Pintus has regularly come up with the goods for Real Madrid, but the inherent risk is that Real Madrid find themselves too far behind in La Liga and out of the Copa del Rey by the time they are fit again.
In the next four weeks, they face Villarreal, Athletic Club, Real Sociedad, Valencia, Real Mallorca, two World Club Cup games, Elche and Osasuna, before travelling to Anfield to face Liverpool.
Image via DAX Images
“Real Madrid did not undergo a strenuous preseason in July and August”
Real Madrid, unlike barcELona; has had more matches to deal with thanks to success in CL and generally speaking more demanding schedule. Our entire mid was practically playing in finals (Modrics bronse medal extra game counted as 90 more minutes) Tchouameni and Camavinga put in some shifts and Valverde was played relentlessly. This will naturally make monsters out of them in future (as they are still young and its now they are building up stamina) but the point is, its natural to be more tired if youre playing more, which we have been doing last decade with 5 CL victories and barcELona have since 2015 barely been anywhere in CL. Hell they even flunked EL last year.
No kidding that they will be more fresh as they were for weekend match if they are a nonfactor in finals. The WC was incredibly stupid timing, even for Fifa.
Bottom line, its xavis shame that they are more fit for finals, not Ancelottis. Think about it.
This team is more than fine. Get us a striker that changes the match rhytm from grinding to free flowing scoring and it will all turn around as players wont have to play end to end football while attempting to break down defenses. It didnt matter that we conceded 1-2 goals if we scored 3-4.
At this point I would even consider a swap with Mbappe for Vini and cash. Benzemas huge drop in form (watch the matches, dont just stare at stats – 30% of his goals this year are pens) is unfortunately calling for it. Mbappe Endrick Valverde/Rodrygo wouldnt be a bad trident either.
Why do u want them to swap vinicius for mbappe and cash, is vinicius not playing well?
The answer is obvious if you read what I wrote and even more obvious when you realize Mbappe scored ~twice as many goals as Vinicius in fewer matches played.
I dont want to give him up but its the only player PSG desire and if you want quality you must be prepared to give quality as they arent letting Mbappe go for Mariano.