Militao eats Alaba

David Alaba He has entered Real Madrid like a glove but perhaps a good part of the way he has paved it Eder Militao. the brazilian it is being erected in the load-bearing wall of the white defense and also in the one that solves, when the forwards or midfielders get stuck, in the rival area. It happened in Alcoy in the Cup against Alcoyano and it happened again this past Sunday against another team from the same province, in this case Elche at the Bernabéu. Another flight, another headed goal. Military Air Force.

It is perceived and Ancelotti knows that he manages a resource that needs to be shaped and exploited. “We don’t have area forwards, in fact Militao made it 2-2, he’s our best header player”, launched at the end of the game, before the media. In fact, when asked if Militao can take up the threat Ramos posed to his opponents, Carletto he was conservative but left the ball on his pupil’s court: “Eder has to improve his accuracy, but he is improving, he can learn and have more accuracy, as Sergio had”.

It is understandable because Militao’s goal is the product of an unusual action. The Brazilian rose to widely surpass Mojica (1.85 meters) almost vertically, taking Jovic more than half a meter, right next to him, who jumps to stretch his 182 centimeters tall. He was not far from one of the most famous jumps in recent Madrid history, when Cristiano hung from the sky to hook a superb header against Manchester United in the Champions League. The Portuguese flew almost up to three meters (according to a study, he hit the ball 2.93 meters from the ground) and Rio Ferdinand, captain of the Red Devils and an exceptional witness, although the one on the poster is Evra, ironically showed his frustration: “I would have run to strangle him.”

The chemistry between Militao and Alaba makes them work almost like a symbiotic unit, but advanced stats show that a large part of the defensive weight is held by the brazilian. The Austrian offers security in the pass and at the time of opening the game (he is the third in all of LaLiga with the most passes completed, with 1,170), but the forcefulness comes from his teammate. In duels won, tackles, recoveries… For example, it covers the functions of securing the airspace: Militao almost doubles (65% to 35%) the percentage of duels won by his teammate. He also uses those springs that he has in his legs to look for the rival goal. He is the one who heads the most in Madrid, with 15 shots this year in that way, better than the nine of the team (Benzema, with ten) and He almost doubled the other great specialist, Casemiro (eight)…

Power that is not being translated into goals from the hand, or better said from the right hand, of the best of the team in strategic actions. If Kroos gave Ramos thirteen set-piece assists during their time together, one of the most prolific connections in contemporary Madrid, the German and Militao are not yet on the same page. None of the four goals of the 3 Madridista has come from his Teutonic teammate.

Even with that, perhaps precisely to see if they break together in that facet, Ancelotti does not dispense with Militao unless he is forced, as happened in the second round of the Cup at the Martínez Valero for the red card of the South American center-back in the Super Cup final in Riyadh. Milli, how the white squad treats him, he has barely been on the field six minutes less than Courtois (the one with the most on the team) and his coach spent 89.6 percent of the possible minutes. It is, and he himself is believing it, essential for this Real Madrid.