The hits keep coming for Real Madrid, as they head into this week’s match against Getafe with several first-team players injured. Sergio Ramos is the most prominent of the recent injuries, as the captain will be out for longer than initially feared.
Los Blancos have not seen Ramos on the pitch in La Liga since a Jan. 10 draw with Osasuna in Pamplona. And now, COPE’s Miguel Angel Diaz has reported that the Spanish international will miss six to seven weeks after he required surgery to repair a meniscus injury in his left knee.
It’s a tough blow for Madrid, as the club is fighting for its life in the title race and must hunker down to avoid any risk of missing out on Champions League football in the 2021-2022 season.
They must face Atalanta in the Champions League knockout stages without Ramos, who will also miss huge league clashes with Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid. Fans can only hope he and fellow superstar Eden Hazard will be able to return from their multi-week injuries by the time they face Barcelona in the second Clasico of the season on Apr. 11.
In the meantime, let’s take a look at three players who must step up for Real Madrid with Sergio Ramos injured.
CB Raphael Varane
We begin with the easiest choice, and that is fellow center back Raphael Varane. Even as recently as the Champions League knockout stage loss to Manchester City in August, fans questioned whether Varane could truly lead Real Madrid from the back without Sergio Ramos by his side. Those questions actually increased in the group stage of this season’s Champions League following the club’s first loss to Shakhtar Donetsk.
But in recent months, Varane has bounced back, and he deserves high praise for his defensive excellence. Following his heroic performance on the road against Huesca, the French center back may finally be getting his due in the 2020-2021 season.
Varane scored twice for Real Madrid, who needed to come from behind in order to defeat La Liga’s last-placed team. The center back managed to eek two goals past the goal-line like a poacher, stepping up as a leader in the penalty box just like Sergio Ramos often does with clutch goals.
With opponents like Atalanta and Atletico Madrid up on the horizon, Varane must continue to step up in this regard. And defensively, he’s as good as ever. That said, if there is one area in which Varane could be tested greatly by the likes of Atleti, La Real, and Atalanta, then it is his safety and passing on the ball.
DM Casemiro
Like Raphael Varane, Casemiro had a strong individual performance in Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Huesca this weekend. The Brazilian had nine defensive involvements, per WhoScored.com, and you shudder to wonder what this injury-plagued defense would look like without the experienced defensive midfielder making crucial tackles and interceptions.
Casemiro wasn’t always at his best this season – again, the same can be said for Varane – but he’s picked it up defensively recently. On the ball, there will always be question marks, but his importance to the team as a whole is without doubt. Casemiro is a “glue guy”, and they need him that much more whenever the hard-running, quick-thinking Sergio Ramos isn’t available.
There’s another area in which Casemiro deserves high praise, and that is his goal-scoring. Casemiro has been a real threat in the air when in the box on set pieces, getting on the end of many of Toni Kroos’ delightful deliveries. In fact, he is actually Real Madrid’s second-leading goal-scorer behind Karim Benzema this season in La Liga, as he’s found the back of the net four times.
Casemiro will be an X-Factor in the Champions League, as Atalanta are a quick-attacking team and will try to stretch the defensive midfielder wider.
CB Nacho Fernandez
Eder Militao and Nacho Fernandez have interchanged as the third center back for Real Madrid this season, with each impressing in some matches. Between the two of them, Militao has more upside and is the future of the team, but Nacho is easier for Zinedine Zidane to trust. Strictly at center back, Nacho has had fewer below-average matches than Militao, who is a good center back but still has his growing pains.
Going into Tuesday’s match against Getafe, Militao is a question mark with an injury. He had already missed the weekend win over Huesca after picking up a suspension for an early, ill-advised red card the previous weekend vs. Levante.
Nacho likes to try to take inspiration from Sergio Ramos’ style of play when on the pitch. As we saw against Inter Milan in the Champions League group stages, Nacho will try to bomb into the penalty box to support the attack, and he has the intensity to get back defensively to avoid a catastrophe at the other end. It’s not foolproof, but Nacho’s aggressiveness pays off more often than not. And he’s been quite good on the ball with a completion percentage of 91.4.
It will be interesting to see how Zidane manages the minutes between his two center backs, but it wouldn’t surprise Madridistas if the manager goes back to the 31-year-old as the left-sided center back next to Raphael Varane.