Real Madrid's defense, more than three months in the gorge

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The day the winter market opened, on January 2, Carlo Ancelotti announced that Madrid would not sign any center back.

He had been left with only two (Rüdiger and Nacho) after Alaba's cruciate fracture (same injury as Militão), but the decision was announced as immutable.

And chance would have it that last Thursday, while the hiring window was running out its last minutes, the team ended the night in Getafe shivering in defense, exposed by the contingencies to the shortage of pieces in that area of ​​the field, in the run-up to a key duel against Atlético in the League.

At 9:40 p.m. on Thursday, two hours before the acquisition deadline ended (11:59 p.m.), the Whites saw in the Coliseum how Rüdiger was injured by a severe blow and a bruise on his left thigh.

And around 11:00 p.m., in stoppage time of a match already finished (0-2), the first replacement for the axis of the defense, Tchouameni, received a yellow card that ruled him out of the derby.

The perfect (fatal) storm before facing a tricky date against the only team that has defeated them (twice), and with the threat of Griezmann and Morata (37 goals between them).

This Saturday morning, the Valdebebas curtain was drawn and Rüdiger was not on the grass, trying to accelerate an express recovery in the gym.

Not participating in training prior to a match with the group almost completely rules out a player, but this time the situation is exceptional.

Ancelotti, who on Thursday appealed to the German's "warrior" character, did not close the door to ownership.

“He has improved a lot.

Tomorrow [today] we will evaluate,” he noted.

If he does not arrive, the Italian would focus on patching up unpredictable results to accompany Nacho, the only completely healthy centre-back.

This Saturday he mentioned the three alternatives: Carvajal (he is 1.73), who is only remembered there in the extra time of the Champions League quarterfinals against Chelsea in 2022 in one of Madrid's miraculous moments in Europe;

Mendy, who once played that role with Zidane although in a three-center formation;

and Camavinga, added at the last minute to the equation.

“He has never done it, but he gets the ball out very quickly and is forceful in duels,” defended the coach.

Carvajal, Camavinga and Mendy, patches if the German does not recover and there is, according to Ancelotti, an “absolute emergency”

Outside of Nacho and Rüdiger, no option offers much of a pass in that position and in the youth team no one draws as much attention.

The first emergency resource was Tchouameni, who actually played his first game as a center back in October against Osasuna, in another situation of need.

He is now the closest thing to something tested, but Competition did not lift the sanction.

“The center and pivot job is the simplest.

You have to use your head more than your energy,” argued Carletto in an attempt to reduce the drama of the sinkhole.

The medical situation and the lack of elements in such a sensitive area bring to the fore the club's risky measure of not reinforcing when it still had a whole month left to do so.

David Alaba broke his cruciate on December 17 and, although Ancelotti did not initially rule out a transfer, he did not take long to close that possibility after conversations with the club.

The offices rejected a large outlay from the beginning and it was soon resolved that they would not go on the market at all.

When it opened, Madrid had already said that it would not enter.

The conclusion of the entity led the locker room to a scenario of precariousness and no room for two unforeseen events in a row in such an abrasive calendar.

There were, in the best of cases, three months left to dispose of Militão, who according to Ancelotti “is starting to do very well.”

Between the Super Cup, the Cup, the League and the Champions League, Madrid finds itself in the middle of a gorge of around twenty games that it faces with only two pure centre-backs.

More information

Antonio Rüdiger, the pessimist who emerged in the drought

Carletto, as he already did with the measure of not bringing in a world-class striker after the departure of Benzema, made the decision and at the time declined to publicly express his opinion on the need to sign.

“After Alaba's injury, we thought that Tchouameni could replace him in an emergency, and he has done well.

Now it is an absolute emergency, and only for one game, if Rüdiger does not play.

We took into account that it was not for the entire season because Militão will return at the end of March or beginning of April,” explained the Italian.

The Brazilian's injury on August 12 already left the squad with three centre-backs, which posed a risk.

For matchday nine, Ancelotti had to pull Tchouameni, a rookie who has made no secret that he does not like that role.

And when Alaba fell and seeing that no one would come, the Italian began his usual seduction maneuvers.

“He will be angry, but he is a spectacular center back,” he said.

Meanwhile, there has hardly been any respite for the best Rüdiger (30 years old), the white player with the most minutes (2,594).

Since he replaced Militão, he has only missed two games (Valencia due to cards and Arandina in the Cup), and he was a substitute in the inconsequential closing of the Champions League in Berlin.

He hasn't given him any respite from Germany either.

Ancelotti awaits his evolution so as not to face the “absolute emergency.”

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