The Real Champs
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Three Key Questions ahead of the UCL Madrid Derby Second Leg

By Alex McVey

MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 02: General view inside the stadium prior the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg match between Real Madrid CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on May 2, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by fotopress/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 02: General view inside the stadium prior the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg match between Real Madrid CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on May 2, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by fotopress/Getty Images) /
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How will Zidane manage rotations?

MADRID, SPAIN – MAY 02: Diego Simeone manager of Atletico Madrid and Zinedine Zidane head coach of Real Madrid signal from the touchline during the UEFA Champions League semi final first leg match between Real Madrid CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on May 2, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN – MAY 02: Diego Simeone manager of Atletico Madrid and Zinedine Zidane head coach of Real Madrid signal from the touchline during the UEFA Champions League semi final first leg match between Real Madrid CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on May 2, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images) /

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane’s rotation policy has allowed him to keep his players fresh for big Champions League matches while allowing him to make wholesale rotations against lower level La Liga teams like Sporting de Gijón, Deportivo de la Coruña, and Granada.

The Atleti match puts forward a puzzling problem for Zidane. On the one hand, the three-goal cushion means that Zidane could risk playing the squad players that have turned up big in the La Liga campaign. Real Madrid has a tough match coming up against Sevilla at the weekend, and that’s one of the matches in which Madrid is most likely to drop points in the La Liga race.

On the other hand, given that this is a knockout match, and given that the ultimate prize at the end of this Madrid derby is a chance for Madrid to win a historic back-to-back Champions League victory, it would be hard to blame Zidane for rolling out a full-strength starting XI.

This will be an intriguing test of Zidane’s claim that there is no A-Squad and B-Squad at Madrid. Zidane will have to figure out how to best balance the need to rotate and the need to protect the league to ensure passage to the Champions League finals.

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