Real Madrid loosens in the areas

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Benzema, against Shakhtar Bondar and Konoplia players, this Tuesday in Warsaw.KACPER PEMPEL (REUTERS)

Madrid sealed its pass to the knockout stages of the Champions League with two games to go in the group stage and remain undefeated this season (11 wins and two draws).

To the weight, few reproaches.

However, the feeling with which he left Warsaw after drawing (and thanks) against an emotional Shakhtar in the build-up to the derby is that he has loosened the nuts in both areas.

If last season he cemented his titles from the forcefulness on both sides, with Courtois and Benzema setting the pace, in this start he has lost that grace.

SHAShakhtar

1

Anatolii Trubin, Valerii Bondar, Bogdan Mykhaylichenko, Matvyenko, Yukhym Konoplia, Sudakov (Neven Durasek, min. 80), Mykhailo Mudryk (Ivan Petryak, min. 84), Zubkov (Lucas Taylor Maia, min. 81), Stepanenko, Artem Bondarenko and Lassina Traore (Danylo Sikan, min. 76)

RMA Real Madrid

1

Andriy Lunin, Rüdiger, Lucas Vázquez, Ferland Mendy (Alaba, min. 67), Nacho, Aurelien Tchouameni (Modric, min. 56), Federico Valverde (Camavinga, min. 67), Hazard (Vinicius Junior, min. 56), Kroos, Rodrygo (Marco Asensio, min. 67) and Benzema

Goals

1-0 min.

45: Zubkov.

1-1 min.

94: Rudiger.

Referee

Orel Grinfeeld

Yellow cards Yukhym Konoplia (min. 15), Eder Militao (min. 84), Artem Bondarenko (min. 87) and Kroos (min. 89)

Carlo Ancelotti has already claimed one more point of defensive application from his team, and he did it a week ago, in the middle of the sciatica attack suffered by the Belgian goalkeeper, for whose return this Sunday against Barcelona is implored in Valdebebas.

Meanwhile, the French striker – forced to stop for almost all of September due to injury – has so far not exhibited the same finesse in packing rivals.

In this time of sophisticated analysis, the first problem for whites begins with something as elementary as the loss of dominance in the two areas.

In these 13 duels, there has been a rare day in which Ancelotti's boys have not gone through stretches of difficulties in the matches: because they started out lazy or, when they have dominated the most, because of a lack of forcefulness in both goals.

In the last week alone, against Shakhtar at the Bernabéu, he unloaded 36 shots (14 on goal) for just two goals after a very spirited start, and last Saturday in Getafe, 19 for one on a flatter night.

In both cases he ended up in a hurry.

“It is costing us to put in”, Nacho admitted this Tuesday.

Beyond control problems in various phases and the fact that a completely placid day has not yet been sought, he has always managed to generate a danger very similar to last season.

For example,

The scenario in attack inevitably refers to Benzema, who this Monday, except for surprise, will receive the Ballon d'Or. A physical problem at the beginning of September left him on the stretcher for the next three games and, on his return, he has been seen with less light.

Statistics do not lie: he shoots 10% more every 90 minutes (2.16 compared to 1.95 last year), but scores half (0.48 goals compared to 1.01 the previous year ).

In total, he adds four goals, one of them in the discount in Cornellà to a defender who acted as an improvised goalkeeper.

the silent lunin

The Frenchman, who joined the preseason late with special permission from the club to take care of a highly demanded body in recent times, has not yet taken the temperature that is demanded of him.

The youngest cavalry formed by Vinicius (seven goals and four assists), Rodrygo (four and three) and Valverde (four and two) sewed the hole of his absence with a note and now he is expected, the player with the most shots at goal (six) without scoring in this Champions League.

For its part, what happens on the other shore already received Carletto's public warning before the duel in Getafe.

“The defensive aspect was the key to success last year and it can be this year as well.

That's where we have to be focused.

We've done pretty well, but not as well as we need to.

In recent times we have lost some duels and the team is not always compact”, warned the Italian.

The databases say that they create less danger for Madrid this year: 0.79 expected goals conceded per game (metric that measures the quality of the occasions they generate) compared to 1.35 in the past.

However, then that doesn't translate so well in real life: he concedes 0.69 goals per date, compared to 0.89 the previous year.

For 10 days, the last dike has been Lunin, who started four games in a row for the first time, and his performances have been in keeping with his silent character: no blunders, but no note-stopping either, essential in a top-level goalkeeper and routine at the Courtois that was crowned in Paris.

In a Madrid that now rotates out of habit after hardly doing it, the escape routes are suffered in the areas.

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