Real Madrid’s match against Roma is going to be one of their tougher games of the season. Despite the home side’s 0-0 draw with Como last weekend, they remain one of the best teams in the league, with some good attacking options in Donyell Malen and Paulo Dybala.
Real Madrid will have to make sure they are effective on both ends of the pitch if they want to get a favourable result, and that is mainly down to Roma being as good staying back and defending as they are on the counter-press and attacking key areas of the pitch to score quickfire goals.
It will be interesting to see what happens on the night, but if Jose Mourinho wants Real Madrid to win, he would need to make sure he keeps a few players on the bench to be able to have an impact in the game.
Here are three Real Madrid starters who should be on the bench for the game against Roma.
3 Real Madrid starters who must be benched vs Roma in Champions League
Aurelien Tchouameni
Tchouameni has played most of Real Madrid’s games since coming back from injury a few weeks ago. Even against Atletico Madrid, he started the match despite not having many reps before it. He has not had many good performances this year, and in particular, his partnership with Fede Valverde is not good enough.
The duo does not work well together, and Real Madrid must start other players if they want to win. This does not mean he does not deserve to start games for Real Madrid anymore, but until he is at his best, it seems counter-productive to start him and expect Real Madrid to control matches – at least when he is not at his best, or playing with Valverde, or both.
Denzel Dumfries
Dumfries has surprisingly become Real Madrid’s starting right-back, and it makes no sense why or how. He is not, on paper, a better player than Trent Alexander–Arnold. And, in reality, Trent has even outshone him on the defensive end, which is why it makes no sense how he is playing over him.
Roma are expected to have a tough defense, at least at some points during the match, and Trent’s long range passing will help Real Madrid unlock their defense at times of need. Dumfries had a few good performances for the Netherlands in the international break, but even then, his matches at Real Madrid have not been good enough to warrant a full-time starting role.
Trent is the better player – in reality, and on paper and for the match against Roma.
Arda Guler
This is an incredibly harsh one, but Guler might not make it to Real Madrid’s starting XI despite being one of their best players of the season. If Jude Bellingham was not playing as a 10 for the team, there’d be no question about Guler, but the fact that he has to be sent to the wing as a pseudo-winger only makes sense in some games, and Roma is not one of them.
Roma’s physicality will make it difficult for Guler to create loads in the attack, and having Yan Diomande instead will give them the pace and individual prowess to be able to force his way into the attacking third. Guler will likely be the first player off the bench anyway, so he should get a bunch of minutes.
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