With the decisive Champions League return leg against Benfica approaching, Álvaro Arbeloa decided to rest some key players and benched Trent Alexander-Arnold and Antonio Rüdiger for the match against Osasuna at the Estadio El Sadar. The whole team played a disappointing match and Osasuna won 2-1. That was the first defeat in LaLiga for Arbeloa and the third one since he was appointed as Madrid head coach.

Arbeloa chose to play 4-4-2 but honestly that choice didn't pay off, as it wasn't the best day for both Mbappé and Vinícius, and the connection between the two also didn't work very well. The only Real Madrid goal, the equaliser at minute 72, came from a fantastic move by Valverde who recovered a ball in the midfield and attacked space with energy and pace and then passed the ball to Vinícius who scored. Definitely not enough against a team who has quality in the midfield, a strong backline and a killer striker (Ante Budimir).

Matchday 25: Focus on Dani Carvajal

With Alexander-Arnold on the bench, el Capitán Dani Carvajal was finally a starter again, after more than 5 months. He started as right back, then moved a lot, attacked space, switched position with Valverde, and came inside to create overload when Osasuna were attacking. In the second half he switched position with Valverde even more often and he even moved wider to take an attacking position and create an unusual front three with Mbappé and Vinícius. That was a risky move because he left most of the right wing free for Osasuna to attack there, mostly with the ex Real Madrid youngster Víctor Muñoz. Carvajal suffered him a lot in the 1v1.

Carvajal was subbed off at minute 63 and Alexander-Arnold entered the pitch. The Englishman himself didn't play as good as he did in the previous match and a collective defensive inaccuracy with Asencio and Ceballos caused Osasuna's decisive goal.

It was great to see the Captain back in the starting XI and all in all he played a good match, with good movements and good pace. However, unfortunately he provided just a couple of crosses from the right to the left (unlike Alexander-Arnold in the previous match): remarkable was just a cross for Alaba who was blocked by Osasuna's backline. The Englishman is currently definitely more active in creating chances from the right wing, but Carvajal's reliability will always be priceless for the team.

_____________________________________________________________________

Did you watch the match? Which player impressed you the most? Hit reply and let me know!

See you next Tuesday!

Marta