Carlo Ancelotti read the Riot Act to its fantastic four forward line during the Saturday of Saturday of the Madrid Derby on Saturday. The message was: we play according to the plan or there will be immediate changes.
It was received loudly and clearly and for the keeper of Jan Oblak from Atletico Madrid, a beautiful second half of Vinicius JR, Rodrygo, Kylian Mbappe and in particular Jude Bellingham would have earned the victory of Real Madrid instead of a 1- 1 draw.
On Tuesday in the Etihad, the hottest attack in European football (60 goals between them in all competitions this season) takes on the invincible defense of Manchester City. It should swing this play-off from the Champions League in favor of the Spanish champions, but there are doubts and worries.
Bellingham is the swaggering leader of the quartet, but has flirted to cross the border between Bravoure and Indiscipline during his second season in Laliga and – together with Aurelien Tchouameni, Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga – the medium -fellow of England will miss the second stage as booked.
There is also the concerns about how Madrid's best team can be made to pay for the tendency of their talented attackers not to work as Ancelotti demands. Without a defensive injury crisis, the Italian would probably choose not to choose not all four of his star attackers against Pep Guardiola.
The place of Bellingham is not up for discussion. He remains the beating heart of the team and the leader without the bracelet. Tradition dictates that the player who played the most games for Madrid-Schippers the team, but that were not to lead the side to the Etihad on Tuesday.
He has certainly taken the responsibilities of the captain in terms of Haranging Match officials. Pitchide microphones in the Bernabeu On Saturday, Bellingham grabbed the referee's assistant with a salvo of 'F *** you man, f *** off' when a close throw-in call went to him after just 11 minutes . Another player in another stadium would have been booked for different opinions.
Bellingham also led the complaints to the referee after a hard fine was awarded against Madrid, this time with more measured language. “That is crazy, crazy, crazy,” he said, and soon the stadium sang together: “Corruption at the Federation (Spanish FA).” Those supporters love Jude's great attitude.
The grasp of his cross when he complained to the referee about the penalty, and the swing of Atletico's bruises Uruguayan Center Back Jose Gimenez by fooling his 'man-bun hairstyle', did not escape the late-night highlights program From the Spanish TV. It all contributes to the legend that Bellingham began to write on day one of last season, when he scored on his debut and celebrated for the noisy, most partisan end of the San Mames Stadium of Athletic Bilbao.
“You don't do that here,” he was told by the then athletic captain Iker Muniain. Bellingham grinned at the hypersensitivity. 'Le Gusta El Barro' voted the highlights of the highlights of the 1-1 draw of Madrid on Saturday evening. It literally translates as 'he loves the mud' and means: he is not afraid to make his hands dirty.
Bellingham is also not afraid to work, but his three sidekicks in those Fantastic Four do not always have the same appetite. Former Madrid player and La Liga analyst Alvaro Benito said at the weekend: 'They don't work well at the collective level. They do not defend well, they are unorganized, they find it difficult to press effectively and they do not follow. 'He was asked why the Ancelotti team won almost all their big games this season and lost twice to Barcelona, AC Milan and Liverpool.
Ancelotti was more unhappy with the movements of his attackers on Saturday than their lack of effort. Vinicius drove in to look for the ball and was entering the toes of Mbappe. The Frenchman fell deeper to find space and express Bellingham.
In the second half, Vinicius hugged the left flank and Rodrygo on the right, and Mbappe and Bellingham Pummeled Atletico's now stretched defense, combining for the goal scored by Mbappe that held Madrid at the top of the table. “Bellingham dragged Madrid to the last border,” Diario said. “He imposed the second half of the pace.”
The fact that Madrid could not go beyond that limit and win the victory means that they are only one point free from Atletico in the second and two free of Barcelona in third place.
With four defenders of the first team injured (Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba), the last thing they needed was this extra round in the Champions League against the team that they still see as their greatest rivals in Europe .
On one side of the field in the Etihad they will have a 21-year-old defender, Raul Asencio, who tried to sign and send a city group last summer and to Girona, next to midfielder Tchouameni in the center of defense.
On the other hand, they will have four frightening talents in Mbappe, Vinicius, Rodrygo and Bellingham. Ancelotti believes that they will be the difference over the two legs, but they must stay within the limits of his plan, and Bellingham has to stay out of the book of referee Turpin in Manchester.
They need him on Tuesday evening, but they need him even more next week.
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