Two major problems hurting Real Madrid this season

Carlo Ancelotti is a unique coach. In an era when the Pep Guardiolas, Jurgen Klopps, Erik ten Hags of the world are bringing in very specific players to fit their philosophies; the man with the iconic raised eyebrow simply looks at the available roster and changes his tactics. And in many ways, the Italian’s pragmatic approach is perfect for Real Madrid in a period of time, when they have not splashed out on transfers like in the past.

At San Siro with AC Milan, Ancelotti played 4-4-2 with a diamond in midfield. At PSG, he largely played with a 4-3-3. At Napoli he played with an attacking 4-4-2. In his first spell at Real Madrid, he inherited a 4-2-3-1 from Jose Mourinho and made just enough tweaks to turn it into a 4-4-2 to allow Ronaldo to get his goals. And when Bale-Benzema-Cristiano were at the top of their games, he switched to a 4-3-3.

Ancelotti is the players’ favourite that way too. He gave up on his favoured and well-set formation at Juventus to accommodate a certain Zinedine Zidane. The way he adjusted the AC Milan midfield was the stuff of legends.

No matter the roster, the Italian tactician always comes up with a formation that is defensively solid, technical in midfield and clinical in attack. That is exactly what is papering over the cracks right now at Santiago Bernabeu.

The full-back dilemma at Real Madrid

Real Madrid were unbeaten this season until they ran into RB Leipzig with Antonio Rudiger playing at left-back. All it took was 18 minutes that night for the experiment to fall flat on its face and for the German opposition to score twice.

Real Madrid not adding to their ranks at full-back is confusing. Yes, the first-choice duo Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy are very good. But that’s about it. Over the last few seasons, something always goes wrong with the position.

Lucas Vazquez was supposed to be a stop gap arrangement at right-back during the time of Zidane as manager. Yet, he is still stuck in that role.

Same goes for Nacho Fernandez. The forever utility man is one of the club captains this season and has donned the armband multiple times in the past as well. But what is his natural position? It seems that the Spaniard is the solution to every defensive problem but he is remembered only when there is one. He always puts in a commanding performance whenever on the pitch but isn’t a regular starter at any position.

How and why Achraf Hakimi was allowed to leave is a big mystery. Equal to the magnitude of why Alvaro Odriozola hasn’t appeared even 50 times since making his debut for the club in 2018.

Over on the left, Sergio Reguilon never got a real chance. After Marcelo’s departure, the plan was to just run with it. David Alaba, who was once a great left-back for Bayern Munich, was supposed to be solid cover. But then again, the very reason he has moved to centre-back is his age and because he can’t maintain the intensity on the flank for the entire 90 minutes.

The signing of Rudiger did not raise many eyebrows because it was a free transfer for one of the best centre-backs in the world. But he is not your full-back on any given day. The flavour of the moment is Eduardo Camavinga. He is doing a steady job of it so far but if this goes on for too long, he could find himself with a fate similar to Vazquez.

The worrying factor is not the defence. Ancelotti has made sure that worries are not turned into a crisis. But his life would be much easier if there are a couple of speedy, flashy, solid full-backs in the squad.

Who replaces the irreplaceable Karim Benzema?

Benzema is the current Ballon d’Or holder and could be contesting for it again this season, depending on the silverware the club are able to win. But when he gets injured, there is no like-for-like replacement available for the Frenchman. Mariano Diaz has barely featured and is not a major part of Ancelotti’s plans.

Rodrygo has been the go to man in Benzema’s absence, but the Brazilian youngster simply isn’t a number 9. He has the skill set but the instinct of a natural finisher is yet to be sharpened to a world-class level.

Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde and Marco Asensio are great wingers and pop up with wonder goals every now and then but they won’t find the back of the net week in week out. Eden Hazard was a superstar at Chelsea. He barely comes off the bench these days.

It had seemed that the plan was to land Kylian Mbappe last summer. And yes, Cristiano Ronaldo was indeed available in the winter. But the former didn’t happen and the latter was sensibly overlooked, with the Portuguese icon no longer in his prime. The fact of the matter remains that there is no one to look towards on the bench, who can replace the impact of Benzema on the pitch.

It was indeed very brave for the club management to not reinforce in the winter. The season is bound to be extra-long, physically and mentally, with players having played a World Cup in the middle of it. With Barcelona’s lead in La Liga already widening, the lack of horses for courses could prove to be the deciding factor come the end of the campaign.