Real Madrid face a second reset of the season after a second thumping at the hands of their most bitter rivals in Barcelona. If Carlo Ancelotti has anything to do with it, the Clasico will have consequences.
Ancelotti had begun the season convinced that for the big games, Rodrygo Goes, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior could not feature together due to their lack of defensive prowess. Until Sunday night, it had only happened against Borussia Dortmund due to injuries, a game they roared back in after going two goals down. Recent weeks and the intensity shown by his players had shifted his thinking to give them a chance against Barcelona.
The Italian’s original thinking was proven right though, and after conceding to Barcelona, his plan collapsed, report Marca. Not only did Ancelotti express surprise at the amount of long balls his side played after the Barcelona defeat, but the lack of commitment from the front four and their inability to stick to his plan meant Barcelona had it easy in Saudi Arabia.
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On Monday it was reported by The Athletic that Ancelotti was considering a change of formation change, including dropping one of the front three (most likely Rodrygo) for a midfielder when facing bigger sides. The Madrid-based paper corroborate that idea, and also say that Raul Asencio will come into the backline for Aurelien Tchouameni, and Fede Valverde will have to put in a shift at right-back on the big nights, with Lucas Vazquez once again exposed.
Real Madrid President Florentino Perez was criticised in the Spanish capital after he was seen telling Luka Modric that ‘we have to lose one final’, and certainly the noises from Valdebebas have been that Perez was the greatest advocate for all four featuring together. That said, Ancelotti has made ‘balance’ and ‘defensive solidity’ the hallmarks of his discourse in his second spell at Real Madrid, and it could be argued he didn’t need a 5-2 defeat against Barcelona to see that.
