Real Madrid might be four points behind Barcelona, but the truth is that Carlo Ancelotti has not varied what was 12 months ago a successful campaign strategy. Los Blancos had 4 more points, had scored 9 goals rather than 10, and conceded thrice rather than twice, but it was Barcelona who trailed by two, and Carlo Ancelotti’s prodigy who was beaming a winning smile every weekend.
If you tab through the Ancelotti era at Real Madrid, it becomes obvious that his teams tend to peak physically between February and April. Last year he entered the cold winter without Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao, then Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos, Vinicius Junior and Eduardo Camavinga all fell too. Swap Jude Bellingham for Vinicius, and David Alaba for Militao, and the reigning European champions are actually better off injury-wise than they were at points a year back.
Then too, Ancelotti’s side were still working off the holiday weight, in the same way that Luis Suarez used to ‘play his way into shape’. The Italian has said he has a better squad with the addition of Kylian Mbappe and Endrick Felipe. Comparing the two starts, the biggest differences are the points, Barcelona’s form and the expectations. Few had pictured Bellingham running so smoothly behind a defence that no longer had to think about Karim Benzema, the very same of Ballon d’Or fame, to tap home several crucial late winners. With Mbappe finally tucking a white shirt into his shorts, the European champions should be able to obliterate all comers, right?
There is another fundamental difference, and while Ancelotti is obliged to publicly prefer a third vocalist, Real Madrid are without their bass player, always that much more appreciated in their absence. Particularly one as singularly cool as Toni Kroos. A footballer for groupies of taste, one with his own devout followers.
Ever in the background, the cigar-smoking manager Ancelotti will back himself to point them in the direction of a new sound, but on Tuesday night his real thoughts peaked out from behind his mask of composure. Troubled for most of the match by Stuttgart’s ability to slip past their press with insensitive ease, Ancelotti explained the realities.
“It depends what you choose to do. We chose to play vertical, and we had a lot of opportunities. When we were 1-0 up, two or three counter-attacks. The fluidity is when you have the ball, but when you have the attackers we do,” pay attention here, “we have to, we try to, play more vertical.”
He would go on to reason that a less direct approach would not have brought about Tchouameni’s Galactico pass in behind the defence, a perfectly valid argument. Ancelotti hinted again at the fundamental change he’s trying to adust to though.
“We have to work harder on building up from the back, today we had a bit more trouble in the first half. But we have to get close to the opponent’s goal as quickly as possible.”
