You may have noticed the absence of midfielder James Rodriguez on Tuesday night in Real Madrid’s 2-2 draw at home against Club Brugge. Manager Zinedine Zidane was not resting the Colombian for this match, rather, he was concerned with his health.
This shouldn’t be surprising that Real Madrid has another player injured, but the circumstances revolving around James Rodriguez’s omission from the lineup are a bit difference.
According to multiple reports, James suffered a ‘minor’ head injury nearly 10 days ago in the 1-0 win away against Sevilla. However, between that match and today, James came on as a substitute in both the Osasuna match and the Madrid Derby on Saturday.
My quandary is, why would Zizou elect to leave him as a reserve for what was a critical Champions League tilt at home? Even with Luka Modric back and playing, James and Isco offer the most going forward and are crucial in helping the team win the midfield.
In a match like we saw tonight, one in which Real Madrid was struggling to break down Brugge’s ultra defensive approach, James would have been the perfect player to bring on after Sergio Ramos scored 10 minutes into the second half to help push the team just a bit further.
Instead, Zidane went with Marcelo to replace Nacho Fernandez at left back and goalkeeping loanee Alphonse Areola for the struggling Thibaut Courtois.
After a grueling 0-0 draw in the El Derbi on the weekend, it makes sense to rotate the squad, but to completely leave a guy like James Rodriguez out is a horrible decision from the gaffer.
To add to the poor decision, Zizou left Gareth Bale out as well and elected to start Lucas Vazquez on the right flank. Why? What has Vazquez done this season to prove that he is a reliable forward to link up with Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard?
Because of Vazquez’s inability to run at the defense and the absence of James, Hazard was double teamed nearly the entire match and was not really able to contribute on the offensive end like he was able to at Chelsea.
A draw is a decent result given how the match started, but Zinedine Zidane put his team at a disadvantage by leaving the Colombian off the team sheet.
The injury – if you could even call it that – is minor, so expect to see James Rodriguez back in the lineup this weekend for another important match against Granada in La Liga.