Real Madrid are coming off two poor performances against Villarreal and Sheriff in LaLiga and the Champions League, respectively, with the latter result being of particular shock to Madridistas. Carlo Ancelotti knows there is no margin for error against Espanyol on Matchday 8, though he has made the decision to take out two key players from the XI.
Casemiro has been struggling lately. He has been horrendous in a few matches this season and is coming off a rough month of September. The Brazilian is usually a top performer for Los Blancos, but he has fallen below his standard so far in 2021-2022.
Rest may be in order for Casemiro, who often plays more than 3,000 minutes in a league season. Cadena SER’s Javi Herraez reports Carlo Ancelotti has decided that now is the time to give Casemiro more rest. He will not start against Espanyol in order to get extra rest before the international “break” after this league fixture.
With Toni Kroos returning to the XI, it will be interesting to see who joins him in midfield. Fede Valverde, Luka Modric, and Kroos could be the trio of choice. Both No. 10’s Marco Asensio and Isco are out. Eduardo Camavinga is another option, though a bench role may suit him more for now. He has been an impact sub for Real Madrid.
Eden Hazard won’t start despite playing well on Tuesday
The second big decision is regarding Eden Hazard, who came into this match expecting to start after a strong showing in the loss to Sheriff.
COPE’s Miguel Angel Diaz reports that Hazard will not be starting against Espanyol.
Perhaps the Belgian could play from the bench. Presumably, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior, and Rodrygo Goes would start up top if there are three forwards. And if there are two? Maybe this is where we see a 4-4-2 with all of Modric, Kroos, Valverde, and Camavinga starting. Luka Jovic has shown signs of life lately despite not finding the back of the net. Some Madridistas would be keen to see him on the pitch at the same time as Benzema in a striker partnership. But Vini is undroppable at this point.
In fact, COPE says that we will indeed see the 4-4-2 with Vini and Benzema up top and all of those aforementioned midfielders behind them.
Let’s see what will happen against Espanyol. Casemiro and Hazard are two important players to leave out of the XI, and it is curious to see how Hazard keeps bouncing in and out of the lineup. But it is all part of the plan for Ancelotti. In Case’s case, the rest was very much needed. Now, let’s see how the midfield shape looks without him and how aggressive Real Madrid is at the RCDE Stadium.