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.”
"It's unbelievable what he's doing"
Carlo Ancelotti talks tactics as well as stars such as Kylian Mbappe, Endrick and Jude Bellingham… 💫
🎙️ @julesbreach pic.twitter.com/ma35GSMafc
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 17, 2024
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.”
Bellingham’s explanation of their struggles was much more laconic, if upbeat.
“We’ve changed a few things, the loss of Toni is huge in terms of our rhythm and the way we play, he’s such a special player, he’s irreplaceable, but we’re going to have to find lots of new ways to try and cover for his hole. It’s getting a lot better.”
What Kroos allowed for was a counterweight, helping to explain their weeble-like quality in the Champions League. When Kroos didn’t hit quite the heights three seasons ago, in what is surely the most picturesque European run in living memory, Real Madrid dealt a series of sucker punches, having deliberately descended games into chaos and taken their chances. The previous two years, with Kroos playing as well as he ever has, it was much more conceivable that they might win the competition for reasons outwith simply being Real Madrid, due in part to the stability encompassed by the German.
"We gave up far too many chances, but as soon as they got past our first line of pressure, they always seemed to cause us problems."
Jude Bellingham on #RealMadrid's win over Stuttgart.pic.twitter.com/eayJ0ovtTS
— Football España (@footballespana_) September 18, 2024
Now, with Mbappe instead, they have a pack of killers on the loose, and in Fede Valverde, Tchouameni, Bellingham and eventually Camavinga, plenty of appetite to feed them, but less knowledge of how to starve the opposition. Ancelotti divulged that the French superstar means fundamentally altering their methods of winning games – not necessarily for worse – but it is a necessity not a choice in his eyes.
Returning to their current situation, Ancelotti will probably feel that with time to workshop solutions, with the fitness that is delivered by Antonio Pintus, and a little more fine-tuning of his frontline, he has more than enough tools to win again.
The big question whether he can find that time. There is a very real possibility that if Barcelona stay perfect through September, and Real Madrid cannot beat Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano, something they failed at twice last season, then a seven-point gap could open between the two teams. Last year Kroos slowed and sped up the ticking of the clock, and Bellingham turned up right on the whistle. While Ancelotti works on the internal mechanisms, someone, or somehow, Real Madrid will need to be sustained with sufficient wins until he fixes them up. One eyebrow up, Don Carlo’s puzzler is puzzling, and his wisdom whirring.
