30th July 2021 was the day when Raphael Varane left Real Madrid for Manchester United. His departure followed the emotional goodbye of Sergio Ramos a few days ago. Real Madrid had lost the starting centre-back partnership that won them a plethora of trophies over the last decade. Varane and Ramos were not just two exceptional defenders, they were the team’s leaders.
Cut to May 2022. Real Madrid has already won the league and is in the Champions League final having defeated the best of the teams in Europe. Eder Militao and David Alaba have stepped up big time and have not let the club miss the veteran duo. Hindsight is cruel, but when you look over your shoulder and see what Ramos and Varane are up to at their new clubs, you can’t help but heave a sigh of relief and feel that Real Madrid dodged a bullet by not renewing their contracts.
Real Madrid’s centre-back pairing should be Nacho Fernandez and David Alaba for the final
Eder Militao has been a revelation through the season. He has stepped up in big games and formed a great camaraderie with David Alaba, who has slotted into the starting lineup like a hand in glove at Real Madrid. However, the last few matches have highlighted some of Militao’s weaknesses.
Look, by no means has Militao been perfect, in fact, it is rare to find a defender in the modern game who remains unscathed. Militao has made mistakes and in the last few matches, those mistakes have been glorified by the opposition punishing the errors. Perhaps the absence of David Alaba has affected his decision-making, but the fact remains he has been pretty shaky in the last few matches.
On the other hand, Nacho has deputized for Alaba in terms of leadership as well as performance. Nacho has been severely underrated throughout his career. He is the quintessential swiss knife of the defense capable of filling in any four positions. The thing with Nacho is that you never get anything exquisite from him apart from an occasional goal. But what he gives you is consistency whatever the situation is. He almost always does the simple things right on the field without complicating stuff.
Looking at the recent matches, I think Nacho should start ahead of Militao alongside David Alaba in the final against Liverpool. On such big nights when everyone is running around doing crazy things, maybe we need someone like Nacho who does the simple stuff. It is a conundrum Carlo has to face. Whether to trust the young energetic centre back or the plucky veteran. While Militao has been supreme for a large part of the season, Nacho exudes a sense of calm and leadership. Militao on the other has been a bit rash recently.
Eder Militao has already shown that he is one for the future. But given the recent form and past track record Nacho should be given the start. Nacho already has experience playing in the Champions League final against Liverpool as he came on for an injured Dani Carvajal in 2018 and produced a stellar performance.
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As good as Militao is, we don’t know what version of him we are going to get next Saturday. That makes it all the more important that we have Nacho’s leadership and tenacity in the final in the most difficult match of the season against the world’s best side.