The Real Madrid players crossed the doors of Valdebebas this Thursday morning, a place that smells of garlic. The interior walks of the sports city are decorated with thousands of flowers of the violet tulbaghia variety, a purple plant that permeates the environment with its intense aroma. There the penitent Álvaro Arbeloa waited for them. The fired Xabi Alonso is no longer there, who hours before the whites consummated their absolute bankruptcy in Albacete showed signs of breaking the secrecy he imposed on himself during his half-year at the Bernabéu. Sacrificed by the club, this Wednesday he conveyed the idea that, at this point, perhaps the best thing was to end it and not continue with the agony.
Without the Basque coach under the distrustful gaze of the entity and with a new coach who has barely directed two sessions, all eyes are already pointing to the other two legs of the crisis: the players and, by extension, the construction of a squad that, in addition to the abundant injuries, continues to suffer from the lack of football creators, as Carlo Ancelotti and Xabi already warned the entity. In it Belmontazodespite the multiple absences due to physical problems or breaks, Madrid appeared with all their midfielders, except Tchouameni, and the result was that the whites shot on goal as many times as the locals (five), who presented a lineup full of substitutes due to their precarious situation in the Second Division, one point away from relegation.
The maximum tension moves this Saturday to the Bernabéu, in the match against Levante (2:00 p.m.), a stadium that since the collapse at the beginning of December against Celta has begun to monitor the players. Above all, to Vinicius. The dimension of the sporting collapse, in any case, leaves all the protagonists exposed to the anger of a venue where, although the club has managed and directed the main focus of animation for more than a decade, it can never be fully controlled.
Less than two months ago, when the drop in competitive tension in the team was evident and Alonso’s credit began to deteriorate in the eyes of the leadership, the club warned that, if the squad did not clear up doubts about his involvement, “the next ones to be targeted” would be the players.
Less danger than against Barcelona
The collapse in Albacete exposed all the shortcomings of a team incapable of breaking closed defenses, whether First or Second. “We must have a much greater ball speed; make the rivals run, not only from side to side, but behind us; have a greater exchange of positions; and clearer ideas,” Arbeloa claimed in his only purely football analysis after insisting on assuming full responsibility for the defeat. Like so many other days with Xabi and Carletto, the circulation was slow, the unchecking was scarce and the funnel was at the expense of the adventures of Vinicius (supervised by the former castillerist Loren Aguado), the poor controls of Mastantuono and, yes, the aerial threat of Gonzalo García (five goals in the last four games).
After 719 insubstantial passes, Madrid finished against Albacete half as many times (five) as with their counterattacking approach against Barcelona in the Super Cup final (10). His expected goals figure at Belmonte, a thermometer to measure the danger generated, was even lower (1.3) than against the Blaugranas in Saudi Arabia (1.4). This data from Wednesday was the sixth worst of the white season, only behind the matches against Liverpool (0.5), Atlético in the League (0.7), Rayo (0.9), Espanyol (1.2) and Atlético in the Super Cup (1.14).
The official reason for physical preparation
Madrid was in a hurry on Wednesday to finish Arbeloa’s press conference as soon as possible and leave Albacete, an objective that was not fully achieved because the appearance was delayed for a few minutes. The new coach, obliged by protocol, and captain Dani Carvajal (“we have hit rock bottom”) were the only ones who came out to give explanations. Silence in the locker room has become the norm in recent years after bad games if the organizer’s rules, for example in the Champions League, do not require going through the microphones.
The newly appointed coach had no escape and in his explanations he did not stop insisting on the physical deficit of the squad, an issue that the club has turned into the central cause of the team’s collapse. Antonio Pintus, recovered as coach of the first team with the endorsement of the president, has become a main protagonist of Madrid’s immediate future. At Belmonte, he led the players out of their warm-up, Arbeloa made several references to his task, and this Thursday from Valdebebas they spoke of “an alarmingly low physical form” and “Pintus’ emergency plan.” The Italian, 63 years old, is not new to this task. He was already the most responsible for his area during Ancelotti’s second stage, with whom he had disagreements in the final stretch of Carletto, at a time when injuries also greatly weakened the squad.
On Saturday, at lunchtime, far from the Valdebebas bunker, it will be time for the Bernabéu.