Real Madrid and AC Milan have not met in an official competition since the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League when they were drawn in Group G of the first stage.
Since then, the two European powerhouses have only played friendly pre-season fixtures – a whopping seven times – but there is not much one can read into the results.
On Tuesday night, Los Blancos and the Rossoneri will meet again in the UCL, this time in a one-off tie as part of the revised League phase. The game will be held at the Santiago Bernabeu but both sides have their reasons to be concerned ahead of the clash.
The Italians have won just one of their three UCL games with their only win being a 3-1 win over Club Brugge in their most recent outing. They sit in 25th place, 13 places behind 12th-placed Real Madrid who have won two out of three games.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs AC Milan.
Time to restart the engine
Real Madrid should have played in La Liga over the weekend, but the devastating floods in Valencia saw the game called off and rightfully so.
The men in white have thus not taken to the field since they lost to Barcelona at Santiago Bernabeu over a week ago and will return to the field tomorrow night afresh.
Recent weeks have not been easy on Carlo Ancelotti’s men, with the defeat in El Clasico being the biggest blow they could have suffered to the worst possible opponent. The scoreline and venue only added salt to their wounds.
Ancelotti’s side, however, cannot complain as they enjoyed close to ten days off after the gutting defeat and should have put the result behind them by the time they take to the field tomorrow.
The race for the top eight spots in the UEFA Champions League is heating up, and having already lost one game in the event, Real Madrid do not have much room for error. A win over AC Milan will thus go a long way in helping them move up the table.
Everything, however, will boil down to how the Merengues turn up on the night and whether they are indeed fresh not just physically but from a mental standpoint.
After-effects of the Ballon d’Or ceremony
If the defeat to Barcelona in the Clasico was not gutting enough, Real Madrid as an institution took a massive hit during the Ballon d’Or ceremony held a week ago.
Vinicius Jr., who was expected to win the award on the night, suddenly saw his stocks fall and Rodri’s rise as the player in pole position, all in the dying hours leading up to the ceremony.
The player’s defeat did not go down well in Madrid and the defending UCL champions cancelled their trip to Paris with no representative eventually attending the ceremony.
The dust has now settled in Madrid and the club seem to be past the events of last Monday. The big question, however, is around whether Vinicius is past it.
Having been snubbed for the biggest individual award in world football, it was certainly not easy on the winger who had planned parties in advance and even had in mind gifting all his teammates Rolex watches.
In fact, Karim Benzema revealed after his conversation with Vinicius that the Brazilian was gutted and not in good spirits.
It will thus be interesting to see how the player turns up tomorrow and whether or not he has used the defeat to fuel his season to greater heights. After all, he has been one of the team’s few bright sparks so far.
Ancelotti’s deduction
It is no secret that Real Madrid have been sloppy all season. While individual brilliance has pulled them out of the waters, it is not a long-term solution and Ancelotti has thus been working hard to find the cracks in his system.
As revealed earlier today, the Italian gaffer has reached the conclusion that the team’s defensive system is the major reason for concern for Los Blancos have been easily penetrable at the back.
With the team often falling apart in defence, oppositions have shown greater impetus towards keeping the ball and it has been visible in all of the team’s recent games.
El Clasico, in fact, was the prime testament to the same as Barcelona’s first two goals at Santiago Bernabeu saw the defenders making fundamental errors to allow the Catalans to score.
The defenders, thus, bear the brunt of the blame for Real Madrid’s uninspired play at the back. However, the manager also sees the lack of defensive contributions from the forwards to be a reason for concern – particularly Kylian Mbappe.
It thus remains to be seen how the manager looks to fill the cracks he has identified, for solidifying the defence will go a long way in helping the team turn their situation around.