Carlo Ancelotti to infuriate Real Madrid with Arsenal selection

Real Madrid face Arsenal at the Emirates in the Champions League quarter-final first leg in the midst of a defensive crisis. After the international break, Los Blancos have conceded eight goals in three matches against Leganes, Real Sociedad and Valencia, which includes two of the worst three attacks in La Liga.

Ahead of the Arsenal clash, it has forced Carlo Ancelotti to consider alternative solutions defensively, with Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy all missing from his starting XI, and David Alaba still yet to get back to full sharpness after 13 months out through his own knee injury. It has been reported this week that Ancelotti is considering using Alaba ahead of Fran Garcia at left-back in London.

Meanwhile the absence of Carvajal has been a headache all season for Los Blancos, with Lucas Vazquez struggling to hold up defensively in his place. Fede Valverde appeared to solve that issue against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, but it does sacrifice his presence in midfield. Even so, Relevo report that within the club, there is confusion over Ancelotti’s persistence with Vazquez at right-back, feeling that their best spell of the season came with the Uruguayan in the backline.

However Marca report that Ancelotti will risk the ire of Real Madrid and the fans, who have begun to whistle Vazquez at the Santiago Bernabeu, and start the 33-year-old against Arsenal. They say Ancelotti and his coaching staff have been positive about Vazquez’s work in recent weeks, and they prefer to go with experience in the backline. The absence of Aurelien Tchouameni through suspension means that they prefer to keep Valverde in midfield, alongside Eduardo Camavinga.

That will mean the bench for Luka Modric, who is the only realistic alternative to Vazquez. The 39-year-old Croatian played well coming off the bench against Atletico Madrid, and has performed well in stretches this season, but has struggled to have the same impact in the starting line-up. However Vazquez’s form over the last six months has been an almost constant struggle, with opponents targeting his side in every match.