Elche vs. Real Madrid: 3 biggest concerns in Copa del Rey Round of 16

Real Madrid brought home the Supercopa de Espana after going empty-handed in the season preceding. A journey of merely two matches that was irrefutably tranquil but not so much when it comes to the nerves involved.

To commence with an emotionally-charged El Clasico followed by a relatively gripped and secure final match, but as they say, the grind should never stop – Real Madrid continue their quest to clinch away more silverware.

The men in white now step forward to partake in the Copa del Rey. After a win over last season’s shockers, CD Alcoyano at their home, it’s the round of 16 match against Elche CF that awaits Real Madrid.

Here are three things that Real should take note of and consider ways as to how to neutralize them.

Elche’s low block strategy against Real Madrid

Although Real Madrid secured a win in their last meeting with Fran Escriba’s side, it was not an easy one. Elche is one of those teams in La Liga whose performances are brushed under the carpet just because the scoresheet was not in their favor. I must say it is one of Real Madrid’s traits now to get suffocated in front of a team adapting to low-block football.

Fran’s men used a typical but malleable form of the 4-4-2 formation with their constant attempts to paralyze the midfield deployed by Carlo Ancelotti. The so-called attackers did not rush higher up on the pitch but assisted their team in defending the ball and pressurizing Real Madrid to lose possession.

The perfect and deserved phrase to describe Elche’s style of play is “beautiful football”. Even though they weren’t able to prevent the loss but their understanding, knowledge, and prediction of Real is something that could trouble the latter in the Copa del Rey fixture as well.

Carlo Ancelotti’s rotational dilemma

The second point of concern for Real Madrid is how well and frequently they can execute rotations in the squad. From what the impression is, Carlo Ancelotti is not a big fan of rotating the squad even when the team plays against lower strata clubs. The perpetual and interminable responsibility on the shoulders of the likes of Luka Modric and Karim Benzema is somewhat alarming, albeit their exceptional performance game after game.

I would not call it any less than a miracle that these two players – 36 and 34 years old respectively – have not fallen prey to significant injury.

It is for the manager to decide whether to continue risking players who are practically carrying the team on their backs or give them their longed-for rest while bestowing some trust and power in the hands of the younger prospects from Castilla: Peter, Antonio Blanco, and Miguel Gutierrez and players from the first team: Eden Hazard, Isco, and Luka Jovic.

Eder Militao’s suspension

Despite an exceptional defensive performance in the Supercopa final, Eder Militao could not keep himself from picking up a red card for a handball. As per the rules, the cards conceded by players in Supercopa de Espana will be carried forward to further fixtures of Copa del Rey and in accordance with this rule, Eder Militao will face suspension against Elche.

It would not be wrong to claim that Eder Militao and David Alaba have grown together as a duo and it is easily visible to even a layman that both of them suffer in producing in the absence of the other. Alaba and Militao push each other and have formed a sort of chain with two decisive ends, one goes up the other one follows, and vice versa. We had a good taste of that when David Alaba was injured in the Clasico.

This time, it’s the Brazilian’s turn to pull off from the pitch which puts a lot of weight on the back of his Austrian counterpart. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see who gets to pair up with Alaba: whether it will be Nacho or Jesus Vallejo and how either of them maintains his chemistry with the No. 4 heir.

A good level of chemistry between the center backs becomes all the more crucial because of the way Elche’s center forwards play. A high press is expected from Escriba’s side which can shake the defensive unit if the last men do not hold cognizance of each other’s strengths and threats.