Real Madrid is confronted with Arsenal on the Emirates in the first stage of the Champions League Quarte final in the middle of a defensive crisis. After the international break, Los Blancos admitted eight goals in three games against Leganes, Real Sociedad and Valencia, including two of the worst three attacks in La Liga.
In anticipation of the Arsenal collision, the Carlo Ancelotti forced to consider alternative solutions defensively, with Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy are all missing in his starting XI, and David Alaba is still to return to full sharpness after 13 months on their way through his own knee pure. This week it has been reported that Ancelotti is considering using Alaba for Fran Garcia Left-Back in London.
In the meantime, the absence of Carvajal has been a headache for Los Blancos all season, with Lucas Vazquez having difficulty keeping in his place defensively. Fede Valverde seemed to solve that issue against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, but it sacrifices his presence in midfield. Nevertheless, Relo reports that within the club there is confusion about the perseverance of Ancelotti with Vazquez in Right back, the feeling that their best spell of the season with the Uruguayan came in the backline.
However, Marca reports that Ancelotti will risk the anger of Real Madrid and the fans, who started Vazquez in the Santiago Bernabeu and start the 33-year-old against Arsenal. They say that Ancelotti and his coaching staff have been positive about the work of Vazquez in recent weeks, and they prefer to go with experience in the backline. The absence of Aurelien Tchouameni due to suspension means that they prefer Valverde in midfield, next to Eduardo Camavinga.
That means the bank for Luka Modric, who is the only realistic alternative to Vazquez. The 39-year-old Croatian played well out of the couch against Atletico Madrid and has performed well in stretching exercises this season, but has difficulty having the same impact in the starting line-up. However, the form of Vazquez in the past six months has been an almost constant struggle, in which opponents pointed his side in every match.
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