Ivan Campo: “I would have put five in the middle and pressed more”

Former Real Madrid defender Ivan Campo — now a regular contributor to MARCA’s radio channel — spoke to Radio MARCA today about last night’s loss to PSG, one that he felt was a very weak performance from Los Blancos that should’ve been approached differently.

“We saw a very apathetic Real Madrid against a rival like PSG that used a direct game,” Campo explained. “The whites played a poor game, without shooting on goal and that is very strange. The Parisians were much superior. I would have done it differently because when a team has so much from midfield up, it’s because they have very little consistency at the back.”

Campo then elaborated what it was that he would’ve done differently.

“I would have played differently, perhaps putting five in the middle of the field and pressed a little more to make PSG uncomfortable,” Campo said. “Modric did not appear, Benzema was not comfortable. Casemiro and Mendy will be absent but now the Bernabéu comes into play and if the team improves, it will have options — although if the duel is the same, I don’t think Courtois can save as many as he did in Paris.”

Campo’s ideas are interesting, and seems widely shared by Real Madrid fans. It seems like Real Madrid didn’t have control, and Asensio provided nothing as a winger. Inserting extra midfielders seems like a sound idea.