Just after a hard-fought victory against Mallorca which drew him level with Zinedine Zidane as the Real Madrid coach with the second-most wins in La Liga (131), Carlo Ancelotti summed up the maelstrom in which his team is living.
“Every game is a final,” he said.
You can understand what he meant. As if the two Champions League quarter-final ties with Manchester City were not onerous enough, Ancelotti’s side also had to negotiate this difficult visit to Mallorca and then – just to cap it off – the Clasico against Barcelona next Sunday.
In those circumstances, no wonder Ancelotti was thrilled with his side’s efforts in Mallorca.
“Was it hard for me to motivate the players not to think about City? No, we know where we are,” explained Ancelotti. “Having this advantage (eight points over Barcelona) before the Clasico was very important. I’m very happy, because winning here is always complicated.”
The hero on this occasion was unexpected: Aurelien Tchouameni. The French international generally likes to do his work quietly, away from the spotlight, but he has been integral to Real Madrid’s success this season and on Saturday he had his taste of the glory.
Aurelien Tchouameni scores Real Madrid’s winner against Mallorca (Jaime Reina/AFP via Getty Images)
His side needed him. Tchouameni was one of the few players to emerge from a drab first half with credit for Real Madrid, who didn’t even manage a shot on target.
Perhaps they were weighed down by Ancelotti’s rotations. The coach had rested Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, opting instead for Lucas Vazquez, Luka Modric, Brahim Diaz and Joselu — all with Wednesday’s second leg in Manchester in mind.
Tchouameni, who has clocked up the seventh-most minutes this season with 2,469, was not given the day off for two good reasons. First, because he has become a starter (last season, he ranked 13th at Real Madrid for minutes played, with 2,840) and, second, because he will miss the game at City due to suspension.
Javier Aguirre, Mallorca’s coach, predicted Tchouameni’s involvement. “When he received the yellow card in the Champions League, we knew that he would play today, and we assumed that he would play as a pivot,” he said.
His reading was correct. Tchouameni was taken out of defence — an area in which he does not feel comfortable — with Ancelotti seeking a tall midfield pivot to contest aerial duels with Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi.
Tchouameni did not let Ancelotti down, contributing two tackles, four clearances and winning three aerial duels, countering what is surely Mallorca’s greatest strength. But he was far more than just a destroyer: he had 94 touches against Mallorca – the second most of any Real Madrid player, behind only Luka Modric (114) – and never tired as he helped his side close out a precious win.
Not only that, he also delivered the decisive goal just after half-time. Tchouameni took three touches, all with his right foot, to control, get the ball out from his feet and shoot from 30 yards. There was some fortune in the ball flicking off Manu Morlanes, who had missed one of the penalties that prevented Mallorca from winning the Copa del Rey against Athletic Club last week, but Tchouameni had earned his luck.
“I know I can shoot and today I was able to score,” he told Real Madrid TV. “The power of the shot? It’s quality and training, where I work on it a lot, I did it yesterday.”
No wonder Tchouameni ended the afternoon exhausted, staying on the pitch for a few seconds in the last minute of the match, holding his hands to his ankles. “He played very well, it was in his favourite position and he has a lot of presence there,” Ancelotti acknowledged.
There was a sour side to Tchouameni’s day, however. As Real Madrid’s players celebrated his goal in the corner by the Mallorca fans, one was seen on television footage making a monkey gesture. It was not the first time such an incident has occurred at Mallorca: in February 2023, a home fan also racially abused Vinicius Junior.
La Liga responded on Sunday with a brief statement: “In sport, there is no place for racist or hateful acts. La Liga firmly condemns any gesture of racism and will continue working to eradicate these intolerable behaviours from our sport.”
✋🛑 En el deporte no hay lugar para actos racistas o de odio.
LALIGA condena firmemente cualquier gesto de racismo y seguirá trabajando hasta erradicar estos comportamientos intolerables de nuestro deporte. #LALIGAVSRacismo https://t.co/Tfwy8M5pWK
— LALIGA Corporativo (@LaLigaCorp) April 14, 2024
An object was also thrown onto the pitch during the celebrations and while some of the visiting players tried to hide it in order to downplay its significance, the referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez was aware of it.
Ultimately, these incidents did not ruin Real Madrid’s afternoon – or Tchouameni’s. The only frustration is that he will not be able to build on this performance at the Etihad Stadium, where Nacho Fernandez is likely to take his place.
Tchouameni is an important loss, no doubt. For his versatility, his dedication and his calm – especially given what he saw in Mallorca.
(Top photo: Rafa Babot/Getty Images)
Read the full article here