Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid Have a Major Problem to Contend With
Real Madrid could be without as many as five natural midfielders for Tuesday’s Champions League league phase opener against Inter Milan.
After a perfect start to his return to the Bernabéu, manager José Mourinho is seeking a response to a shock 1–0 defeat to Real Betis at the weekend and has the unenviable task of a visit from the Serie A champions to contend with.
His job is far more complicated that it would appear on paper, with a gaping hole in midfield that is almost certain to have a significant impact on the fluidity of his team.
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The Real Madrid Midfielders Missing or Doubtful for Inter Clash
Bernardo Silva
Bernardo Silva has not even played a Champions League game for Real Madrid yet, and that is not going to change this week. The Portugal international is suspended after being sent off during his last appearance in the competition which, ironically, came against Real Madrid.
Silva was shown the first red card of his illustrious career when he was deemed to have deliberately handled the ball in the box just 20 minutes into the second leg of Manchester City’s round-of-16 defeat to Madrid back in March.
Arda Güler
Tipped to blossom into a deeper midfielder later in his career, Arda Güler is not an option to help out here as he serves his own suspension.
During Madrid’s elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals last year, the Turkish playmaker was shown two stoppage-time yellow cards for dissent, landing himself a one-game suspension.
Eduardo Camavinga
Mourinho has put plenty of faith in Eduardo Camavinga this season, starting the Frenchman in Madrid’s last two games. Unfortunately for the under-fire midfielder, that run is coming to an end.
Ten minutes before Güler was dismissed against Bayern, Camavinga had received his own marching orders, with a yellow card for a foul followed up by another for timewasting. He must also serve a one-match ban.
Aurélien Tchouaméni
Aurélien Tchouaméni’s absence from the squad is not certain, but it would come as a massive surprise to see him thrown straight into the starting lineup after nearly a month out with a muscle injury.
Tchouaméni was back in training on Sunday but, having missed the entirety of preseason, a spot on the bench would appear to be the best he can hope for.
Thiago Pitarch
Like Tchouaméni, 19-year-old Thiago Pitarch has not played this season through injury, having been sidelined for the past six weeks.
The youngster excelled as an emergency during Álvaro Arbeloa’s reign last season but is another that may well need another week or two to get back up to speed before being seen as a genuine contender for minutes.
The Midfielders Available to José Mourinho
Mourinho plays two midfielders in his 4-2-3-1 setup, but only has one senior option available to him. Federico Valverde has started all four games of the new manager’s tenure so far and it is hard to see anything other than another 90-minute outing for the captain here.
Next to Valverde is one giant question mark.
If Mourinho wants a natural midfielder, he is going to have turn to the youngsters. First in line may be 20-year-old Jorge Cestero, who has a total of 114 senior minutes to his name.
Also registered in the squad are 18-year-old Diego Villalba, who has yet to make his senior debut, and 19-year-old summer signing Sergio Martínez, who made two La Liga appearances for Racing Santander before moving to the Bernabéu.
With those options in mind, Mourinho may opt to get creative. Attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham appears most likely to be forced into a deeper role, despite having dazzled further forward this season.
Much has been made of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s potential in midfield. The right back was given some central responsibilities during preseason, but with fellow right back Denzel Dumfries also on the pitch as a winger to help make the system work. Such a move would come as a real surprise here.
Center back Dean Huijsen is another potential emergency option, although his removal from the defense would force Antonio Rüdiger in to partner Ibrahima Konaté. While that is not an issue itself, it would leave Madrid without a natural senior center back on the bench.
“I could spend minutes here talking about this, but I prefer to be honest with you,” Mourinho told Monday’s prematch press conference. “The algorithm has chosen this match to be played under these circumstances. That’s where we are.
“We have three, four, five options. We could be here discussing all of them, but in the end, I’m not going to say anything.”
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