Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has never shown any fear of confusing the received perceptions within Madrid, established in Madrid, and the Italian could go against the grain again. Despite the return of Jude Bellingham from the suspension in the Champions League, Brahim Diaz was able to hold his place in the line-up.
The former Manchester City and AC Milan-Playmaker started instead of Bellingham last week, and was crucial in the victory of Los Blancos in the Santiago Bernabeu about Atletico Madrid, causing considerable work and scored a brilliant winner. Brahim earned the player from the Match Award and continued his good season against Atletico, most of which have been from the bank as an impact player.
As a reward for his working speed and performances, however, Ancelotti is considering keeping him in the line-up for the second stage in the Metropolitano, says Marca. Fede Valverde is likely to play on right back, while Luka Modric looks like a role of the bank after completing 90 minutes against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday afternoon. That would leave a repeated midfield pairs of Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga as the obvious choice.
However, the last struggled in the first length against Atletico and missed continuity throughout the season due to injuries. Ancelotti is not impressed by his contributions from lately and will start a more defensive backline of Ferland Mendy, Antonio Rudiger and Raul Asencio with Valverde. For example, he is considering starting Brahim and Bellingham next to Tchouameni behind the front three of Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo goes and Vinicius Junior – effectively five attackers based on their use in the past two seasons.
Although Brahim and Bellingham should of course operate deeper and take on more defensive work, it is certainly an attacking line-up if Ancelotti could come up with. He is determined that Modric can play three games a week, despite questions from the media, and it may be that this is the week that he proves that those doubts are wrong. Los Blancos greatly improved with the introduction of the Croatian last week.
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