When Real Madrid fell 0-2 after a double free kick from Declan Rice, Carlo Ancelotti looked up to the bench, leaving him with Lucas Vazquez as a possible option. Vazquez is 34 years old this year and has been brought on to replace 39-year-old veteran Luka Modric. Then, falling 0-3, the next options were Fran Garcia and Brahim Diaz.
In the end, there were no effective changes and Real Madrid returned to Spain with a very heavy negative capital. However, the 3 goals conceded were only the tip of the iceberg, which was Los Blancos' complete loss to The Gunners. After the match, Jude Bellingham himself admitted that if he were luckier, Arsenal would not have only scored 3 goals.
It was not until the defeat to Arsenal that Real Madrid's fatal problem was revealed, which was the shortage of personnel depth, especially in defense. Dani Carvajal's long-term injury, along with Eder Militao, leaves a huge void. David Alaba has returned but has not been able to reach 100% of his form after injury. This season, Real Madrid have only had 3 central defenders and 1 pure right-back.
Since the beginning of the season, Ancelotti has only had 9 players to trust and assign the task of starting the season: Thibaut Courtois, Antonio Rudiger, Federico Valverde, Bellingham, Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior. Stars like Luka Modric, Raul Asencio and Dani Ceballos also contributed a lot but could not play regularly or were discovered quite late.
As for young talents like Endrick or Arda Guler, they have great potential but are not capable enough to lead big matches. Above all, the positions of these two young stars overlap with the super-class attacking quartet Ancelotti has in hand. Therefore, the appearance of Endrick and Guler is only a backup option.
The lack of depth led to Valverde having to play too many different positions and do too many things on the pitch. The same situation happened to Tchouameni and Camavinga. Both showed clear signs of fatigue. In recent weeks, apart from the attacking quartet position, there has not been any position in the Real Madrid squad, even the goalkeeper can be guaranteed.
Man City and Atletico Madrid were defeated by Real Madrid in the Champions League knockout round. However, the disasters at El Clasico since the beginning of the season, combined with the most recent loss to Arsenal, have exposed everything. Not only that, the defeats against AC Milan, Liverpool, Athletic Bilbao and Valencia are the result of this lack of depth.
During his previous term with Real Madrid, Ancelotti had a strong squad and won the Champions League in his first season in charge. The successor, Zinedine Zidane, set a superb record as the Champions League champion for 3 consecutive years (2016 - 2018). At that time, Los Blancos' reserve force included many good players such as Pepe, Nacho, James Rodriguez, Mateo Kovacic, Isco and Alvaro Morata.
Although always the team with the top high revenue in the world, in recent years, Real Madrid has rarely spent money to buy a large number of players in the hope of creating depth. They still have some of the world's top names joining such as Jude Bellingham or Kylian Mbappe. However, seeing these two stars almost vomiting after the victory over Villarreal, we can see how overwhelmingly they are.
Some members of Real Madrid's coaching staff have advised Ancelotti to say this directly to the media, but the Italian strategist may be wary of colliding with the club's leadership. Not to mention that if he had been left empty-handed this season, Carletto's seat could not be held anymore. Therefore, it is not advisable to criticize someone for the recent defeat against Arsenal.
Ahead of the return match, Ancelotti said the chance for Real Madrid to come back was very slim. In the past, they have made countless teams victims of comebacks. However, looking at the current squad, it is difficult to let that happen again.
The Gunners' starting lineup against Los Blancos will be adjusted next Wednesday, but it is just a patchwork of the current gaps. Ancelotti must accept responsibility after the loss to Arsenal, but if he blames him, it is not really satisfactory.
