This week, the focus of the football audience will once again move to the Champions League. Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain will be traveling to Germany to compete against Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, respectively, in the semi-finals of the competition.
In particular, the match between Madrid and Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena is anticipated to be a show-stopping match. Due to the fact that these two teams have competed against one other more often than any other Champions League match, a great deal of anticipation is being placed on this match to determine who will emerge victorious at the end of this season.
In spite of this, both sides are dealing with considerable uncertainty in their respective squads. When it comes to Munich, for instance, it is possible that Jamal Musiala, Matthijs de Ligt, and Kingsley Coman will not be available for this match. Additionally, Leroy Sane is a questionable candidate.
On the other hand, Carlo Ancelotti could make some unexpected adjustments to the starting lineup that Real Madrid will use tomorrow.
Alterations to the defense and the midfield?
Despite the fact that Aurelien Tchouameni began the first-leg match against Manchester City as a center-back, he was unable to participate in the return match. As a result, Nacho was allowed to assume his spot alongside Antonio Rudiger.
During the match, the Spaniard was at the top of his game and did not commit any errors, which allowed Madrid to go to the next round of penalties.
It is possible that Carlo Ancelotti will continue to use Nacho for the first leg of the match tomorrow. He will be positioned in defense beside Antonio Rudiger, who will be tasked for keeping a close watch on a specific young player named Harry Kane.
It is anticipated that these two would be responsible for protecting Andriy Lunin, who was given a break during the weekend’s match against Real Sociedad.
In the meanwhile, since Daniel Carvajal is now banned, Lucas Vazquez would be given the opportunity to start at right back. Meanwhile, Ferland Mendy would most likely take over the duties on the left side of the back four defensive unit.
The latter is coming off of an outstanding performance against Barcelona last weekend which earned him the Man of the Match award. He not only scored but also assisted on a goal, and he also won a penalty.
With this back-four option, Aurelien Tchouameni would be able to start in the middle of the field, in the position that he prefers to play, which is the number six position, while Federico Valverde would flank him on the right side.
Toni Kroos and Luka Modric will be considered for the last slot in the trident, and we anticipate that the former will be selected tomorrow. This is due to the fact that Modric has performed really well against both Barcelona and Manchester City.
There is no question about the three attackers.
Ancelotti does not have the luxury of reorganizing the attack as often as he does the defense and the midfield, and he would not want to make an excessive number of adjustments to an attacking system that is obviously successful.
As a result, Jude Bellingham will be granted permission to play in his typical false nine/no. 10 position, which gives him the opportunity to play forward of the midfield.
As noted out by Thomas Tuchel, Vinicius Jr. will continue his responsibilities as the left-sided forward, and Rodrygo will complete the lineup by playing the position of the farthest man forward.
Ancelotti has choices in Brahim Diaz and Joselu that he can count on in the second half, particularly when fighting against legs that are becoming tired. In the same vein, Eduardo Camavinga has been on an amazing run of form, and it is quite likely that he will be given some playing time.