Real Madrid have been going through a rough patch of form lately. They have lost to Villarreal and Barcelona after the World Cup break, and also drew with Real Sociedad in the last match. Those results saw them lose in the final of the Spanish Super Cup and also fall five points behind Xavi’s side in the La Liga title race.
It is safe to say that most fans would not have seen this downturn in form coming, after what had been a blistering start to the campaign. But the squad depth was always light and it seems that fatigue and injuries have caught up to them in recent times.
The public stance had always been that the club would not make any signings in January. But many fans would have been hoping that that would change, seeing how they had struggled to perform at their best in the recent games. That did not happen.
And as reported by GOAL, Carlo Ancelotti told reporters:
"“We didn’t dip into the winter market because we didn’t need to. If you plan your squad well in summer then you don’t need to use the winter market. When you sign in January it means something has happened, which could be an injury, but we’re fine.”"
Ancelotti explains why Real Madrid made no signings in the January transfer window
To be honest, a lot of things have been going wrong for the club lately, and it is not just their results. Several of their players have been dealing with injury problems as well.
Ferland Mendy, for example, could be out of action for as long as two months after suffering an injury against Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid do not have any real back up in that position though. So either David Alaba, who has faced fitness problems himself and is also the starting centre-back, or Eduardo Camavinga is expected to fill in.
When at full-strength, this side is capable of great things though and one can only hope that the squad is able to remain injury-free as we enter the business end of the campaign, with three major trophies still to play for.