Aurélien Tchouaméni’s muscular injury in January gave Eduardo Camavinga the chance to play in his No 6 position. The latter has performed brilliantly in the role which has convinced the Real Madrid coaching staff and could now see him start in the position in El Clásico against Barcelona on Thursday.
Despite the fact that Tchouaméni is available to play at the Santiago Bernabéu, Relevo report that Carlo Ancelotti has tested Camavinga as his pivot in the training sessions leading up to the game against Xavi’s side. Camavinga impressed in the 6 at La Cerámica, at San Mamés, and at Anfield in the remarkable 5-2 Champions League win.
What has happened in recent weeks has been key to Ancelotti’s decision to opt for Camavinga in the first leg of the cup semi-final. Tchouaméni missed the league match against Osasuna with a fever, and just two days later he was also ruled out for the Liverpool clash. Club doctors feared he had the same virus as Toni Kroos and could infect other team-mates. It later turned out that Tchouaméni’s illness was different from Kroos’, but was the same one that affected Dani Carvajal and David Alaba during the Club World Cup (flu). His absence at Anfield allowed Camavinga to consolidate his place in front of the back four, where he excelled on the night.
Camavinga’s ability to play in the pivot is a nice problem for Ancelotti to have as the Italian believes that Tchouaméni needs healthy competition. “For me, it’s important that Tchouaméni is doing well. He can play in the eleven. Camavinga is also doing well. It’s good for us to have players of this level,” Ancelotti told a press conference. He also spoke about whether Camavinga is a starter: “I’ll tell you this: at this stage of the season I don’t know what the starting team is. For every game, I have to choose the best eleven”.
Kieran Quaile | GSFN
