Real Madrid: Santiago Solari is only focused on tomorrow’s match against Girona
By Ben Sundock
Real Madrid managed to navigate through three very difficult away matches in a row. Coming away with two wins and a draw, Santiago Solari has to be happy with the way his team has answered the call to step up. Before the match with Girona tomorrow, here is what Solari told the press.
If you would’ve told me that Los Blancos were to get an away goal at Barcelona, defeat Atletico by two, and win in Amsterdam against Ajax two weeks ago, I would’ve called you crazy.
Miraculously, Real Madrid did somehow go through three away matches in three different competitions without losing and lead in the ties with Barca and Ajax after one leg. To put it simply, Santi Solari has earned himself a contract extension because of the way he coached in these three matches.
Now, as attention turns to Girona and back to league play on Sunday, Solari will have the very difficult task of keeping his players focused in a potential “trap game.”
"“We know that Girona are a very dangerous side, with a really specific system, which they execute very well,” Solari told the press Saturday morning. “We’ll need to be focused and alert throughout the whole 90 minutes if we’re to dominate proceedings and not have a hard time of things. We look forward to tomorrow’s game to go out and compete and give our all.”"
Madrid has become acquainted with this Girona team during this campaign especially as the two teams have already played each other three times. Real Madrid has won all three matches and has outscored Girona 11-4.
After traveling and training seemingly every day for the past two weeks, many fans might call for Solari to rotate the squad and rest key players for the matches ahead, however, the boss is not going to do that with the title race so close at the top.
"“We’re being pursued by Atlético, Sevilla, and Alavés, and are pursuing Barcelona,” he said. “We’re going to try and continue to cut the gap and put points on the board. We want to be the ones that everyone’s pursuing.”"
I can understand the argument from both perspectives in this particular situation. Players like Vinicius Junior and Sergio Ramos have been playing in every match for the last month and could be tiring.
On the other hand, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid are right on the heels of Real Madrid which puts extra pressure on Real to win every match. After tomorrow’s match, the team will get a full week off before their next match against Levante.
Next. UEFA investigates Sergio Ramos for forced card accumulation. dark
Marco Asensio’s impressive goal against Ajax on Wednesday could earn him a starting spot on the left wing and grant Vinicius some much-needed time off. Solari made mention of how impressed he has been with Asensio’s form since returning from injury, so keep a close eye on the line-up tomorrow ahead of kickoff.