Real Madrid ended up suffering in the final 20 minutes of the Madrid derby on Sunday night, and conceded in stoppage time to Angel Correa to drop points. The first murmurs of discontent at the club have surfaced in the media, and not just with Carlo Ancelotti’s decisions.
According to Diario AS, there is a certain concern over the performances of Aurelien Tchouameni. One of the reasons Los Blancos struggled was the form of Tchouameni, who struggled to hold down the centre of midfield. The Madrid-based daily note that Fede Valverde was often seen covering for Tchouameni, or in the spot that he was meant to be in.
The Uruguayan theoretically was playing a more offensive role, but recovered nine balls compared to Tchouameni’s five, and was seen at times running past his teammate to halt counter-attacks. Meanwhile Luka Modric came off 15 minutes before the end, and he managed four recoveries, despite it not being his game.
“For me, Tchouameni did well, he had presence,” Ancelotti told the press after the game, but there is a feeling that his work has not been at the level it should be, and it was up to Valverde to mop things up.
Ancelotti has generally defended Tchouameni and has rarely dropped from big games, and he does have Eduardo Camavinga returning to fitness imminently. Some of the numbers paint a less dramatic picture though, with three tackles made, four interceptions and an 89% pass accuracy (56/63). It is true that from 77 touches, he lost the ball 10 times.
