ARTICLE AD BOX
Arsenal will host Real Madrid in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday at the Emirates in North London at 21:00. A great match, from which football fans expect a lot
The Royal Club was defeated by Valencia 2:1 on Saturday and is further away from defending the title in La Liga, and now they have a very difficult double match with Arsenal in the fight for the semi-finals of the competition in which they are also defending the title.
Ahead of the match against Arsenal, Ancelotti's team is having problems again. Carlo Ancelotti has faced such situations many times this season, now it is up to him to try to find the best 11 again in a situation where he is missing several important players.
One of the key questions is the positions of the backs. The Italian has already announced that Fran Garcia will play as a left back because Ferlando Mendy is absent, and Eduardo Camavinga has to be used as a midfielder because Aurelien Tchuamena is missing. Camavinga is a midfielder, but he impressed many times in important matches as a left back.
Fede Valverde
And as for the right back, Ancelotti is ready to push his soldier and probably the most flexible footballer in the world - Fede Valverde there.
The Uruguayan has already played in the position of right back and very well. He is faster than the experienced Lucas Vazquez, even defensively he can play better than a "classic" defender, and he is also very good offensively.
It remains to be seen how Valverde will fare against Arsenal, which is made up of many extremely fast wingers whose main feature is speed, but also exceptional technique and passing ability. It won't be easy for the Uruguayan, but Ancelotti didn't accidentally say that he "doesn't need a better right-back" after Dani Carvajal was injured, alluding to the fact that Valverde can comfortably change positions, because he is a natural midfielder.
Federico Valverde played 47 games this season in Real Madrid, scored eight goals and added seven assists. According to Transfermarkt, he is worth as much as 130 million euros, although the 26-year-old is often overshadowed by other major Real stars such as Mbappe, Modrić, Vinicius, Bellingham, Rodrygo...
Real are preparing for the matches with Arsenal, but Ancelotti is again warning about the defense, which is not surprising considering that his team has conceded as many as 31 goals in 30 games, and has conceded eight goals at home in the previous three games - two against Leganes, four against Sociedad and two against Valencia.
Despite the results and criticism from many Real Madrid fans, Real Madrid's players are still hoping for a historic season. It is probably one of the most complex tasks in recent years, but if there is a team capable of achieving it, then it is Real. They have shown this on several occasions, especially in the Champions League.
Real Madrid can never be considered dead until the referee signals the end of the game. This is something that all the rivals have deeply accepted before facing the royal team. Mikel Arteta is also aware of this and spoke about it in his press conference.
Arteta was asked for his opinion on Carlo Ancelotti, the Spanish expert had only words of praise for his much older colleague.
"Ancelotti? He is an inspiration for me. He has won so much in all the countries he has been to, and he is always so calm on the bench," says Arteta and continues.
"Being calm is the hardest thing that coaches face because they are often in an environment where there is a lot of pressure, but he somehow knows how to deal with it. You just have to look at what his players think of him and everything will be clear to you".
English (US)