Real Madrid went from in control to trailing 2-1 in the blink of an eye on Wednesday night against Manchester City. The root of the defensive problems can be traced back to Dani Carvajal, calling into question his worth moving forward.
When a player is out of form in the Champions League knockout stage, bad things are bound to happen. No matter the opponent, when you get down to the last 16 teams of the most elite club tournament in the world, the competition is incredible.
Though Dani Carvajal, Karim Benzema, and Casemiro all played horribly for the first 75 minutes of the first leg tie with City, Los Blancos fans thought they were going to escape with a 1-0 win. That was not the case after Raheem Sterling was introduced by Man City manager Pep Guardiola.
Sterling came on for Bernardo Silva in the 73rd minute and just 10 minutes later, the Brits had the lead and the Santiago Bernabéu was reduced to stunned silence.
Watching the match back, the performances’ of Benzema and Casemiro were troublesome and cost Real Madrid on several attacking chances, but it was Dani Carvajal who really hurt his side again.
In the last three matches now – all of which Carvajal has started in and played the full 90 minutes – Real Madrid has not won and the fullback has not received a rating better than seven according to WhoScored.
To make matters worse, in the loss to Levante over the weekend and last night in the Champions League, Carvajal was the reason the opposing team managed to take the lead in the dying minutes.
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He was caught out of position against Levante after a free-kick was awarded which allowed Jose Luis Morales to run down the wing with only Luka Modric trying to stop him. Dani was not only out of position when the ball was played over the top, but he didn’t make a real effort to track back and atone for the error.
Then, against Manchester City, Carvajal struggled when marking Gabriel Jesus and could not keep hold of the ball with Pep’s side pressing relentlessly in the first half.
It was none other than the Spanish right-back who was caught ball watching in the midfield which led to the tying-goal. Dani was too busy staring down Ilkay Gündogan to notice that the rapid Sterling had made a run down the sideline into space.
The confusion and poor marking in the defensive third forced Raphael Varane to cover out wide, leaving Jesus one-on-one with Sergio Ramos in the middle of the box.
And finally, the ill-advised tackle in the box on Raheem Sterling that set up the winner for the visitors. It was totally unnecessary as Sterling was heading towards the boundary while struggling to control his dribble.
Carvajal slid in, did not come close to getting a touch on the ball, and made the decision very easy for the referee as he awarded the penalty without hesitation.
Dani has been a staple of the Real Madrid defensive line for seven amazing years now and thanks to him, the club has won more trophies than anyone would have ever expected. The fact that he joined the Real Madrid academy back in 2002 makes what I am about to say even more difficult.
Zidane needs to move on from Carvajal within the next year or two.
At 28, this is supposed to be a player’s prime. Instead, Dani has lost all the talent, awareness, and smarts that made him such an elite two-way fullback for years and years. He used to be one of the players who would rise to the occasion in a big match, but that magic seems to be dissipating.
Could it be time for Achraf Hakimi to return and recreate what he has done with Borussia Dortmund for Zizou? I’ll leave that discussion for another article.