Two weeks after burying their last hopes of defending the title by losing at the Camp Nou, Real Madrid resumed the League thinking once again about Barça. The whites receive Valladolid at the Santiago Bernabéu with the future of Carlo Ancelotti grabbing headlines and the focus is on the duel they will play next Wednesday in Barcelona, where they will try to come back from the Copa del Rey semifinal tie that was difficult above the own goal of Militao at the beginning of March. A victory against the blanquivioleta team would help the locals rearm themselves and gain momentum for the fifth classic of the season in a clash that will have plebiscite overtones in the Chamartín fiefdom.
The defeat suffered against Barça just before the national team break turns the last stretch of the championship into a test bench for Real Madrid, whose chances of saving the season depend on their luck in the Copa del Rey and, above all, on in the Champions League Lifting the Fifteenth on June 10 in Istanbul is the only achievement that would ensure the continuity of Ancelotti, who also needs to improve his personal balance with Xavi Hernández after the man from Egar has won four of the six classics they have played at the helm of Real Madrid and Barça, staining their future with uncertainty.
The buzz about possible replacements for the Italian runs parallel to the rumors coming from Brazil, where the winds drink because the Reggiolo strategist takes command of the ‘Canarinha’. Ancelotti allows himself to be loved by the four-time world champion, aware that it would be an excellent opportunity to put the finishing touch to a legendary career, but insists that he will continue to manage the whites as long as the club allows him to. A desire that, it should be emphasized once more, involves playing metal.
«The atmosphere is calm, we are motivated and focused on what we have to do. What is said about my contract, whether I am leaving or staying, or the players who will renew, is a subject that is not discussed here. What is being talked about is the matches against Valladolid, Barcelona, Chelsea and the others,” said the man from Reggiolo, however, at the gates of a match in which the Bernabéu will show its opinion with the coach and with a team that has been shipwrecked again in the regularity tournament, where it has only been able to add a victory in the last four days.
Alaba recovers the chair
Returning to the path of victories is the purpose of a squad that has solved the dreaded ‘FIFA Virus’ without too many shocks and has almost all its troops available. Nacho is suspended for accumulating yellow cards and Mendy will remain out for about a month due to a left soleus injury, but Alaba returned to a good level in Austria’s victory against Estonia and aims to occupy the left-back against Valladolid.
The closeness of the classic and the Champions League quarterfinal tie against Chelsea advises refreshing the eleven and removing assets from the reserve. Lucas Vázquez, Tchouaméni, Ceballos or Asensio oppose to start in a battalion that Benzema will command, after the Lyon man took advantage of the break to make a set-up.
Opposite will be a Valladolid who wants to fish in a troubled river to get oxygen. The blanquivioleta team has only added five of the last eighteen points and lives in a hurry due to the threat of relegation. The Pucelanos present honorable numbers at home, but suffer away from José Zorrilla and have not won at the Bernabéu since 2000. Despite this, Pacheta is moderately optimistic. “We are very good to achieve the fourth victory in history there,” said the Burgos coach, who stressed that despite the fact that his rival may have his mind set elsewhere, “it is never a good time to play against Madrid ».
Escudero, Machís and Anuar are out due to injury, as is Javi Sánchez due to suspension, in a team that clings to the punch of Canadian Larin, author of five goals in the eight games he has played since he arrived in the winter market , to give the bell.
-Probable alignments:
Real Madrid: Courtois, Lucas Vázquez, Militao, Rüdiger, Alaba, Tchouaméni, Ceballos, Kroos, Asensio, Benzema and Vinicius.
Valladolid: Asenjo, Fresneda, El Yamiq, Hongla, Joaquin Fernandez, Olaza, Monchu, Roque Mesa, Aguado, Oscar Plano and Larin.
Referee: Pulido Santana (Las Palmas Committee).
Time: 4:15 p.m.
Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
TV: Dazn.