Camavinga finds its place

Casemiro still does not have a replacement, but Camavinga seems to have found his place. Against the Royal Society, Ancelotti opted for the French international, to the detriment of Isco or Ceballos, to cover the loss of Kroos and in the absence of Valverdeusual first spare part when one of the three of the ‘Holy Trinity’ fails. In three of his last four games as a starter, Camavinga had assumed the functions of the Brazilian in the pivot. But an excessive ardor (Ancelotti had to replace him before game time four of the nine times he had started before the clash against the Txuri-Urdin) and the tactical discipline that he still has to assimilate (at the age of 19 last November he is the youngest in the Madrid squad) had lowered the expectations he created in his first minutes with Real Madrid. His performance in the match against Real defends the figure of Camavinga.

Those first steps with the white shirt were a display of virtues. In his debut against Celta he scored coming off the bench, with the seasoning to do so against a Bernabéu eager to watch football after more than a year and a half closed due to the pandemic. Three days later, also as a substitute, he assisted Rodrygo so that the Brazilian scored the winning goal against Inter at the San Siro. With those credentials and another good half hour against Valencia that coincided with the reaction of the whites in Mestalla, Ancelotti gave him the title for the first time against Mallorca, accompanying Valverde in the double pivot on a night in which the coach tested alternatives for his team, with a change of drawing included. It was one of those games in which he came out with too much speed: he saw the yellow card as soon as the second half began and Ancelotti changed him shortly after.

Before the game against Real, Camavinga had participated in 24 games, nine of which he played as a starter, and totaled 863 minutes, 17th in the squad, behind Hazard, which he surpassed with the full 90 minutes he played against the team from San Sebastian. A game in which he started out of place: first on the left, where Modric also fell, and then in Casemiro’s area, until he was left with a plot for himself on the left and threaded the path to Madrid’s comeback with his left-footed shot from 30 meters with which he beat Remiro in 1-1.

At Rennes he did not stand out precisely for his goalscoring facet. He scored two goals in his two and a half seasons in the first team, the same ones he has now at Madrid. But in France they remember the recital that, still 16 years old, he gave against PSG in August 2018. A precedent that invites optimism when Madrid faces the visit of the Parisians with the absence of Casemiro and still the uncertainty of what conditions Kroos will arrive for that decisive match.