Real Madrid is still in the Champions League after avoiding a scare from Chelsea earlier this week, plus they have to face three of the five teams right behind them in the La Liga table.
The first of the three is a trip to the always difficult Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán to face third-placed Sevilla. WIth Casemiro suspended for the critical tie after playing a huge role in that Champions League bout with Chelsea, manager Carlo Ancelotti must look to his bench for options.
Luckily, he has a few options to fill in for the Brazilian who has accumulated 10 yellow cards in league play.
Eduardo Camavinga
The first and most likely choice is a like-for-like move to the young French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga.
In his short time with the club – Camavinga has proven already that 30 million euros was a bargain of a signing over the summer. Coming over from Stade Rennes in France and having just a handful of seasons as a first-teamer, the pressure of the Santiago Bernabeu and the Real Madrid badge has not fazed Eduardo whatsoever.
Coming off the bench in the second legs against PSG and Chelsea, it was Camavinga who changed the complexion of the match with his certainty and presence in the midfield.
With Camavinga on the pitch, Luka Modric is afforded more freedom to find space and create chances in the attacking third. With Toni Kroos and/or Fede Valverde still playing, Camavinga resorts to the Casemiro-Esque defensive role, thus giving both Kroos and Valverde far more freedom and flexibility in their positioning.
Camavinga has already proven that he is a great deputy for Casemiro. Let the boy get some more meaningful minutes in an important match!
Federico Valverde
Another player filled with ‘Madridismo’ is the Uruguayan, Fede Valverde.
In both legs against Chelsea and in the last couple of months, Valverde has seen his role transition from first-option substitute – to starting right-winger with Marco Asensio struggling for form. Valverde’s seemingly endless energy and willingness to make a difference in the attack and in the defense makes him the ‘Swiss Army knife’ of the squad.
Ancelotti could deploy him as a CDM alongside Kroos and Modric, but I feel like Real Madrid would operate more freely with Valverde in the starting XI.
The one problem I could see with starting Valverde, Kroos, and Modric is getting a bit overwhelmed, causing them to chase the game. When that happens, bad things are bound to happen, which is why he needs to start as a winger, and help the team as much as needed in defense, perhaps even more with the absence of Casemiro.
Karim Benzema
He isn’t a midfielder nor should he play as a midfielder, but Karim Benzema will be crucial without Casemiro in the team.
Benzema – who is one goal away from becoming this season’s top scorer in the Champions League – will, of course, be tasked with scoring the goals and making the difference in the final third, but his ability to drop deep to provide support in the midfield cannot be underestimated. Karim is a one-in-a-million striker who loves to play in a false nine that drops deep into the middle of the park to either pick up the ball, build the attack, or make a strong tackle, and he would need to do a lot of that with Casemiro’s absence.
He’d also be the only threat in the air when going forward, so the French striker would also have to keep that in mind.
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Though I could see Ancelotti resorting to a hybrid 4-4-2 with both Casemiro and Ferland Mendy out, Benzema will still be asked to provide help on both ends of the pitch against Sevilla.