Real Madrid: 5 burning questions from a 2-1 win over Elche

Why did Marcelo play over Miguel?

It is understandable for Carlo Ancelotti to want to rest Ferland Mendy, who had to miss months with an overuse injury. Mendy is very important to Real Madrid. It’s no surprise Los Blancos rarely lose without the stalwart defensive left back and hard-working ball-carrier in the XI.

Yet it is baffling as to why Ancelotti decided to start Marcelo at left back over Miguel Gutierrez. Ancelotti was supposed to be open to playing the Castilla standouts. While Miguel has received some minutes, he has been mostly out of the picture. Even when he was playing well, Ancelotti opted for Nacho at left back over him, and the results were disastrous at times.

Marcelo did not cost the team against Elche, though he did have a couple of bad lapses and was as slow to recover defensively as you’d expect. Offensively, he had one nice cross, but otherwise made no impact, completing fewer than 75 percent of his passes. Miguel has never played as poorly on offense as Marcelo did, nor is he has slow in transition or as unwilling to mark attackers as the Real Madrid icon.

Miguel could be the future of Madrid at left back, in tandem with Mendy at the very least. Marcelo is leaving at the end of the season. He may be the captain and someone fans still love dearly, but Real Madrid and Ancelotti have to start using some logic here. If Mendy can’t play, Miguel is the best option. I don’t think it is close.