Madrid, Nov 25 (IANS) Real and Atletico Madrid are both in UEFA Champions League action on Wednesday, with Real Madrid travelling to Greece in the face of doubts about coach Xabi Alonso, while Atletico face a vital match at home for their European future.
Real Madrid’s 2-2 draw away to Elche again raised questions over their standard of play under Alonso, following the team’s another disjointed display.
The Spanish press has talked about poor relations with some Real Madrid players and the coach, who is also not helped by injuries to defenders such as Antonio Rudiger, Dani Carvajal, and Eder Militao, reports Xinhua.
Real Madrid dropped two points in their visit to Elche in the previous round of matches in La Liga at the weekend. The 36-time title winner and 26-time runners-up Real Madrid is currently leading the points table with 32 points from 14 matches, including 10 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss.
Against Elche, Rodrygo’s performance alongside Kylian Mbappe didn’t strengthen his case for more minutes. Dani Ceballos failed to provide the midfield cover that the injured Aurelien Tchouameni offers, while Trent Alexander-Arnold showed both sides of his game with some excellent set-piece deliveries mixed with some questionable defending in Elche’s opening goal.
Real Madrid looked to be opening a big lead at the top of the table, but that is now down to just one point over Barcelona, three over Villarreal, and four over Atletico Madrid.
A trip to Olympiacos should give Real Madrid the chance to get back to winning ways after defeats and two draws in their last three matches. Still, another setback would increase the pressure on Alonso ahead of visits to Girona and Athletic Bilbao in the coming week in the domestic league.
Atletico entertain Inter Milan, with Diego Simeone’s men in excellent form in La Liga but needing a good result in Europe.
Two wins and two defeats have left Atletico 17th in the 36-team table, and although they look assured of a place at least in the playoffs, a win is important for the former La Liga winners to have the chance of a top-eight finish.
Manager Simeone is without injured defenders Marcos Llorente and Robin Le Normand. Giuliano Simeone is also a doubt with a slight strain, and his hard-working style could be missed against last season’s beaten finalist, which travel to the Metropolitano Stadium with four consecutive wins in the tournament.
–IANS
bsk/
