What was the logic behind resting everybody? Figured it was a shoo-in? Seems silly not to play for the silverware. But I'm new here.
The Copa is far and away the lowest of the 3 trophies they play for each season. At Real it's Champions League above all else with the league title close behind. The CdR is a distant third and, while nice, is never going to be given nearly as much priority by the club. Typically teams with 2 solid goalkeepers will "split" their time by playing the #1 in league & Champions league games and giving the backup the Cup matches, which is why we saw Areola. Carvajal was out with a slight injury (though we might have gotten Nacho anyway for the same reason above). Varane, Casemiro and Mendy were rested while James, Brahim and later Rodrygo were given minutes they otherwise might not seen had this been a Liga match. They absolutely should have beaten Sociedad with today's lineup, but a lot big clubs use Cup matches to rotate players out for rest while giving young guys/reserves minutes to keep them sharp. It's moot now but had they made it to the final Zidane probably would have gone with a more traditional.
Areola has to do better on that first one but the defense is totally to blame for the other 3. Shambolic is the perfect description. He's been in decline for a while but I just don't see how you can put Marcelo back out there at this point. At least not in big or important matches. He's such a liability at this point and the backline looks completely different with Mendy shutting shit down on the left. It's sad to see.
lol at FCB talking shit after scraping together 3 points from the club they raided via about 1000 passes
Ah yes, how could I forget. Qique gave Firpo a nod in his old stomping grounds. What are your complaints with the reffing, again?
Lenglet handball should have been a red, Sergi Roberto should have unquestionably seen a 2nd yellow in the first half, didn't call Bartra holding Messi in the box
It got sort of skipped over this week but it's a legit insane stat considering his role, who he's played with and the list of ridiculous players that have been at Real throughout the years
That is crazy....he’s been a staple for a very long time. Admittedly I was done with him 12 or so months ago but he’s really been fantastic this season.
Just finished watching and wished I hadn’t. Love Varane and Carvajal but they cost the team today. Nobody was great but they turned off twice and were caught both times, albeit by a fantastic through ball. Glad to Hazard back though
Uh that's a textbook handball. Why do we even have VAR if they're not going to review obvious missed calls like that.
This team is so much fucking less than the sum of their parts. Everything is so god damn underwhelming
In the middle of a title race they drop 5 of six points to a team in the relegation zone and a team sitting in 14th. I'm sure they'll get buttfucked Wednesday and again next Sunday and then the season will be over with and everyone can just coast the rest of the way
What an absolute disaster season from him. Quite frankly the team has played better without him. Hopefully they can change things in a hurry or it all comes crashing down in a couple weeks.
We’ll know by this next time next Sunday but yeah this week is going to go a looooooooong way towards defining this season
I get that Zidane wants more of a dynamic midfield but Kroos on the bench is more than a little surprising, especially since Luka has looked every bit of 34 this season
https://www.transfermarkt.us/eden-hazard/profil/spieler/50202 is this accurate he's only played in 10 league games?
What the hell has happened to Carvajal? He's been absolutely terrible both ways just about all season