Real Madrid: 3 players who must step up against Alaves due to several injuries

CB Eder Militao

Eder Militao was one of the few players who didn’t perform poorly against Alcoyano. The young Brazilian center back did not put a foot wrong defensively and scored the team’s lone goal, which came off an expertly-placed Marcelo cross just before halftime.

As a whole, Militao has what it takes to be a great center back for Real Madrid. His long passes out of the back are very underrated, and he has some goal-scoring upside. Defensively, Militao is strong, fast, and good at reading the game. He’s had some positional miscues against counterattacks this season, but we really saw the advanced nature of his defensive work in the second half of the 2019-2020 campaign.

Without Sergio Ramos and Nacho Fernandez, who was surprisingly preferred to Militao as the third center back by Zidane this season, Militao has a huge opportunity in front of him against Alaves. Joselu and Lucas Perez form a great striker partnership with their two totally different skill-sets, and Militao must be up to the task of neutralizing them, especially Perez.

Madridistas still have high hopes for Militao despite the rumors that the team could loan or sell him this year. Hopefully, they don’t make the mistake of getting rid of him, because the former FC Porto man is a young center back worth keeping.