Villarreal v Real Madrid: lineup, statistics, preview
Carlo Ancelotti hit with a football calendar packed within 72 hours, his Real Madrid side facing Vilireal tomorrow on his Real Madrid side Their tough Champions League won Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night.
Madrid needed penalties to drive their city rivals, but much of the focus that followed was on the controversial decision to ban Julian Alvarez’s spot kick after being determined to have been touched twice.
It’s a long, emotional night, and Ancelotti is frustrated that his players are unable to get time to rest before another crunch match in the title race.
He said: “I don’t understand, but we can’t do anything. The minimum (gap) is 72 hours. I don’t understand it…but that’s the calendar here.
“TV rights are prioritized and not player recovery.
“Since January, we haven’t stopped for a while, playing every three days. Tomorrow’s game is the 21st or 22nd (this year). That’s too much. Even for me, who doesn’t play.
“Preparing the game every three days… players don’t have time to heal. But what can they do? The only thing possible is to stop, but you can’t.”
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The Italians acknowledged that short turnarounds are likely to affect their approach to the game.
“We have to put in extraordinary effort tomorrow,” he added. “We don’t have enough time so we can’t have the energy and freshness we need. But we have to give good attitudes and play intelligent games. For example, there are many ways to win to win.”
It’s another tricky test for the Madrid side, which has not been away from his La Liga home since January 25th, losing to Espanyol and Real Betis and drawing in Osasuna.
The fifth Villarreal aims to rekindle hopes of finishing in the Champions League qualifying spot after losing to the Alaves last weekend.
Villarreal v Real Madrid team news
Ancelotti confirmed that Vinicius Jr was given extra rest after a suppressed performance against Atleti.
Brazil International received some criticism for his exhibit at Metropolitano, but his coaches quickly supported one of his starmen.
Ancelotti said: If he doesn’t play well or fails sometimes… I don’t argue about it. He was so important to this club that I cannot argue about it. ”
Madrid will be able to use the same team on their trip to Villarreal, except for defenders Ferland Mendy could miss four weeks due to a hamstring problem.
Fran Garcia is likely to be on the move while 39-year-old Luca Modric is likely to rest, but is expected to be replaced. That means Fede Valverde will come back to midfield with Lucas Vasquez playing right back.
Villarreal has not reported concerns about new injuries, but Gerard Moreno and Ilias Akhomach remain on the sidelines.
Villarreal: Conde; Foyth, Kambwala, Costa, S Cardona; Pino, Gay, Parejo, Baena. Pepe, Perez
Real Madrid: Courtois; Vazquez, Assncio, Rudigger, F Garcia; Valverde, Chameni, Bellingham. Rodrigo, MBAPE, Vinicius JR
The match will begin at 5:30pm in the UK. You can watch it in Premier Sports 1.
It can be streamed on Laligatv and also available for viewing on the BET365 website.
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