Another focus battle in the 18th round of La Liga came to an end, with Real Madrid, one of the favourites to win the title this season, being forced to draw 0-0 at home by visiting relegation zone side Cádiz, ending a 10-game winning streak in all competitions for nearly two months.
What makes people helpless is not only the 0-0 result, but also the various humiliating statistics during the game. The White Army's 36 shots on goal and 82% of the possession rate were finally "clean sheeted" by opponents who were deeply trapped in the relegation zone, which is definitely a new meme that people are happy to ridicule, some media have counted the 20840 games in the past 10 years in the five major leagues in Europe, of which only 4 teams have failed to score more than 36 shots on goal, and Real Madrid is one of them.
Personally, I think that if Asensio and Modric had not tested positive for the new crown virus, Ancelotti would still arrange a three-mid-season start for the ceremony, and perhaps the result of the game would have been different. The reason for this is that in all the matches from the beginning of the season to the present, whether it is La Liga 2-1 Barca, 2-1 Sevilla, 2-0 Atletico, or champions league 3-0 Sharif, 5-0 Donetsk Miners, as long as the midfielders are Modric, Kroos and Casemiro, Real Madrid have won (11 games); in the case of two of them, Real Madrid's record is 4 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss, which to some extent reflects the indispensability of the ceremonial three midfielders to Real Madrid.
Let's talk about the front. The old Benzema and Vinicius, who adjusted his shooting boots, became Real Madrid's goalscoring agents this season, and out of the team's 39 La Liga goals, the two jointly contributed 23 goals (Benzema 13 goals, Vinicius 10 goals), and in third place was Asensio (5 goals). The serious injury in the summer of 2019 almost caused him to miss the entire season for the next, although it is still unable to return to the state before the injury, but the "Real Madrid Emperor" has never given up, and his forward partner with Benzema and Vinicius is also the first choice for the recent Ancelotti 433 formation, and in the five games that all three started at the same time, Real Madrid won. In the past game, Hazard replaced Asensio, who tested positive for the new crown virus, for a full 90 minutes, and the media ridiculed "Hazard scored a goal, and Real Madrid ended a 10-0 winning streak".
After Ancelotti took over as Real Madrid manager this season, he made many attempts in the use of people, but eventually followed the 433 formation based on the ceremonial three midfielders in Zidane's period, but filled the right person for the corresponding position:
In the back line, Militang replaced Varane, Alaba replaced Ramos, Marcelo was completely nailed to the bench by Mendy, and the new No. 4 Alaba even inherited the offensive attributes of the former captain, not only winning the debut goal in La Liga in the national derby, but also contributing 2 goals and 3 assists in the 23 games played for the White Army so far, which simply could not match the white clothes on his body. Although there is no BBC of the year on the front line, Benzema's new partner with Vinicius has the style of his and C Ronaldo galloping in the field, but today's "galloping horse" in addition to diligence also has a captain responsibility, plus Asensio on the right, in time may be able to regain the glory of the past. It is this classic lineup that has made Real Madrid's ten consecutive wins in all competitions in the last two months.
It's just that Ancelotti may not have expected that in the absence of the main players, his substitute players could not help the team complete the perfect docking between the various links of the game, and in the face of the weak team's iron barrel defense, An Shuai did not present a more targeted Plan B.
For Real Madrid, a multi-line giant who has been fighting on many fronts for many years, a set of squads cannot support the entire season, let alone win the championship. Every time Real Madrid wins, everyone will praise the magic flute is an immortal legend, every time they see the ceremony three midfielders play the fans always have a sense of stability in their hearts, but in fact, the average age of the three midfielders has exceeded 32 years old, Benzema in the front line is the "second oldest" in the current main squad after Modric (36 years old), Alaba and Carvajal in the back line are about to reach the age of standing, and their substitutes Vazquez and Nacho have even passed the 30-year mark. With such an age coupled with the coronavirus test positive and injury tests that pop up from time to time, it is a bit difficult for Ancelotti to win La Liga with such a squad.
In fact, at the beginning of the season, the various attempts made by the coach in the use of players are a good idea, valverde, who has performed well in the last two seasons, Rodrigo, who has been improving, The newly joined Camaringa this season, and Gutiérrez, who was transferred by the second team, are all plastic talents worth using, and Zidane was relying on such a group of non-main players to create Real Madrid's B-squad, which not only trained the players but also won honors, and the La Liga and Champions League doubles in the 16-17 season also came from this.
According to the Spanish media "As", Modric, Casemiro, Carvajal, Asensio, Rodrigo, Bale, Lunin, Marcelo and Isco will miss the next match against Bilbao, which is undoubtedly worse for Real Madrid, who has just been kept a clean sheet.