Ferland Mendy will start over Marcelo
This is perhaps the greatest advantage Real Madrid have. Ferland Mendy is a one-of-a-kind left back who is second in La Liga behind only Lionel Messi with three dribbles completed per game, according to WhoScored.com, yet he’s also allowing just 0.4 dribbles per game in the league defensively.
Mendy is one of the world’s most underrated players. If you don’t consider him one of the three best left backs in world football right now, then you are doing it wrong.
More importantly, Real Madrid are undefeated in La Liga when he starts. Undefeated. They don’t lose when he’s in the lineup. But when they start Marcelo, they get crushed by teams like Cadiz and Valencia.
There’s a huge difference when Mendy plays, and he is fresh and absolutely ready to play against Villarreal. While the Yellow Submarine have two impressive right-sided midfielders in Takefusa Kubo and Samuel Chukwueze, the reality is that neither young wide midfielder is on Mendy’s level tactically or physically. (With all due respect to Kubo.)
We’ve seen Mendy shut down the best of the best, such as Sevilla’s Lucas Ocampos at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. He could have a Man of the Match performance against Villarreal. Mendy is a major key to victory for Los Blancos in every game he starts, even if he doesn’t always get the recognition worldwide.