Open Thread: January 3, 2022

The Open Thread/Daily Merengue is a place where you can discuss anything and everything related to football. Feel free to discuss the topics presented here, or start your very own discussions! The Open thread will be posted every day by one of the mods: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, YoSnail, Ezek Ix or NeRObutBlanco.

Bad start to 2022!!

Los Blancos dropped all three points in a bad display against a plucky Getafe side. Without Vinicius Junior the whites struggled to create much at all against the low block and Ancelotti summed it up well by stating “We were still on our Christmas holiday today”. To make matters worse the chasing pack of Atletico and Barca won yesterday while Sevilla play tonight. The game was covered in the immediate reaction, 3 answers and 3 questions and player ratings articles as well as the Managing Madrid podcast.

What sort of rotations can we expect against Alcoyano?

Alcoyano are set to play Real Madrid at the Estadio El Collao on Wednesday in the Round of 32 of the Copa del Rey. They come into this game after beating Alessio Lisci’s Levante 3-3 (3-1p) in the second round of the Copa del Rey.

Alcoyano shocked Spanish football when they beat Real Madrid last year, and a repeat would once again send ripples across the Spanish game. Considering they will start the game as the clear underdogs, Alcoyano have little to lose.

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti could be without young Brazilian star Vinicius Junior, Serbian striker Luka Jovic, Welsh forward Gareth Bale, right-back Dani Carvajal and young French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga. Therefore heavy rotations are expected with many fringe players likely to get minutes.

Real Madrid Predicted XI (4-3-3): Andriy Lunin, Lucas Vazquez, Nacho, Jesus Vallejo, Marcelo, Dani Ceballos, Federico Valverde, Isco, Peter Gonzalez, Mariano Diaz, Eden Hazard.

Would be nice to see more of Peter Federico!!