Real Madrid

Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger will be unavailable for the next La Liga game against Valencia after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season in the 0-0 draw with Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

The German international was booked in the 95th minute for a confrontation with Rayo center back Florian Lejeune, who had gotten in his way near the corner flag after the German tried to push him out of his way and get into the box. The referee showed both players a yellow card, much to the frustration of Rudiger, who had to be restrained by his teammates.

The suspension means that Rudiger will hit the sidelines, leaving Real Madrid with only two fit center backs for the Valencia game: David Alaba and Nacho. The former has been a regular starter under Carlo Ancelotti, while Nacho has been used reliably any time he’s needed to fill in.

Rudiger’s absence is a blow for Real Madrid, who are currently second in the league table, two points behind leaders Girona. The 30-year-old has been one of the best performers for the club this season, filling in with solid performances in the absence of Eder Militao.

Rudiger will still be available mid-week against Braga in the Champions League, where he will most likely start.

Kepa—7: Produced a big stop to deny Sergio Ramos from a header in the second half. No blame on the goal conceded, but did feel like an opportunity Courtois would have saved.

Dani Carvajal—8: Made mistakes, but always made amends: lost the ball in a dangerous position inside his own half, but then made a goal-line clearance. Gave too much space to Acuna on the goal conceded, but then scored the match equalizer off a set piece. Continues to be a bright light this season.

Toni Rudiger—8.5: Never backed down, even when the foe was Sergio Ramos. Put his body on the line defensively and always helped his teammates to double down on the likes of Ocampos or En-Nesyri. Played an inch-perfect ball over the top to Vinicius, which the Brazilian nearly converted.

David Alaba—5: Continues to struggle defending aerial crosses and ended up scoring an own goal for Sevilla to take the lead.

Ferland Mendy—6: Defended well against Lukebakio, but produced next to nothing in the final third.

Tchouameni—5.5: Lost track of Djibril Sow on an early run inside the box that nearly turned into a Sevilla goal. Failed to stamp his mark on the match.

Fede Valverde—6: Worked tirelessly defensively, despite only returning from South America a few days earlier. Scored a goal in the opening 7 minutes of the match, but was disallowed for a marginal offside by Bellingham.

Toni Kroos—7: Produced the assist from a set-piece on a Dani Carvajal goal and was near foot-perfect in the midfield. His cross-field switches had Sevilla’s defense on the backfoot early in the game.

Jude Bellingham—6: The most fouled player in La Liga received 7 more tonight and countless that were not called. It seems there is a new scouting report out: stop Bellingham before he gets in full stride. The fouls created a stop-start nature to his game and meant he could never find rhythm.

Vinicius Junior—6: An eventful game but not as effective as the Brazilian would desire. Had two shots blocked including a one-touch volley from a Rudiger ball over the top of the Sevilla defense. Battled hard with Jesus Navas and often got the better of him, but referee De Burgos Bengoetxea refused to give Vinicius the correct call — be it a penalty kick, an advantage, or a foul just outside the box.

Rodrygo—5: Fans frustration will be mounting with Rodrygo, but Ancelotti should persist with the 22-year-old. Nearly scored after bringing down a Valverde cross inside the box and shooting at Nyland’s near post. Visibly frustrated and mentally struggling with the lack of goals.

Substitutions:

Eduardo Camavinga—5: Added very little to the game and one of his clearances nearly resulted in a Sevilla goal.

Luka Modric—5: Ancelotti hoped to gain more control with Modric but the game needed to embrace the chaos and fatigue by leaning-in more to players with high energy and mobility.

Joselu—N/A: No impact on the match - struggles in matches with more transitions and counter attacking opportunities.

Fran Garcia—N/A: 4 touches and 3 passes after coming on for the final 10 minutes of the match.

Brahim Diaz—N/A: Had one tackle to win the ball back inside Sevilla’s half, but little else to note.

A Sevilla supporter was ejected from their LaLiga match with Real Madrid after allegedly directing racist abuse towards Vinicius Jr during the 1-1 draw.

The Brazil international played 88 minutes of the fixture at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan where Madrid captain Dani Carvajal’s header 12 minutes from time cancelled out David Alaba’s own goal.

Vinicius Jr later posted on social media about being on the receiving end of racism during the match on Saturday night, which Sevilla have now confirmed was the case.

A club statement read: “Sevilla FC would like to communicate that, after detecting xenophobic and racist behaviour, a member of the public was identified, ejected from the stadium and handed over to legal authorities.

“The individual will also be subject to the club’s vigorous internal disciplinary protocols and have their membership revoked.

“Sevilla FC condemns all racist and xenophobic behaviour and will work closely with the authorities to ensure that action is taken accordingly. This behaviour does not belong at Sevilla FC.”

Vinicius Jr was in the thick of the action throughout the draw, denied a penalty at the end of the first half before he was booked five minutes from time after he clashed with Sevilla goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, which sparked a brief melee between both sets of players.

It was only back in May when Madrid filed racism directed at Vinicius Jr as a “hate crime” to the Spanish State Attorney General’s Office following a string of alleged racist attacks aimed at the 23-year-old.

LaLiga called at the time for a legislation change to allow them to impose punishment on clubs for episodes of racist abuse and Vinicius Jr has stressed once more the need for change, especially with Spain hoping to host the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal and Morocco.

“Congratulations to Sevilla on the quick positioning and the penalty in another sad episode for Spanish Football,” Vinicius Jr said in a social media post.

“Unfortunately I have access to a video of another racist act at this Saturday’s game, this time carried out by a child. So sad there is no one to educate her. I invest, and I invest a lot, in education in Brazil to train citizens with different attitudes.

“The face of today’s racist is stamped on websites as on several other times. I hope the Spanish authorities do their part and change the legislation once and for all. These people need to be criminally punished too.

“It would be a great first step to prepare for the 2030 World Cup. I am here to help.

“Sorry to sound repetitive but it’s episode number 19. And counting.”

Great one. Kiyan Sobhani is one of the best Madrid journos out there.

Thank god there's some cb available lol

Real Madrid star reveals frustration at new role Rodrygo has admitted he's not happy playing as a number nine

Eduardo Camavinga admits frustration at Real Madrid role. Eduardo Camavinga annoyed at having to play left-back.

His relationship with Rodrygo and the rest of his teammates:

“We spend all our free time together. I think that if ‘Cama’ or ‘Rodry’ give me assists, or the other way around, it is also because things are going very well off the field. We also have Jude, who has just arrived, and Tchouameni, who has been there for a year now. I brought ‘Cama’ to Brazil this summer. He is one of us now. He plays like a Brazilian, he dances like a Brazilian. He wants to come back! With Rodrygo, we have known each other for years, we faced each other when we were 11 years old. The same for ‘Mili’ (Eder Militao) who I have known since I was very young. We’re just a group of guys the same age who want to achieve great things. I spend more time with them than with my family! And besides, we don’t have a girlfriend or children. It’s easier to organize dinner parties.

One of the benefits of using VR for Tchouameni is that he can practice playing as a center back, a position that he is not very familiar with but might be required to play in some scenarios, like he did recently against Osasuna. By facing virtual opponents and teammates, he can learn the defensive principles, positioning, communication, and decision-making that are essential for playing as a center back. Days before the Osasuna game, the Frenchman was simulating scenarios where he tracks Osasuna striker Budimir to make sure he doesn’t lose his marker.

Wanna see him at city!

Centre-back has proven to be a real area of concern for Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who lost star defender Eder Militao to an ACL injury just 50 minutes into the current campaign.

The 31-year-old has missed Madrid's last three games with a groin injury but has made a light return to training in the past few days.

https://www.fotmob.com/embed/news/01hca0m3gmkp-Why-David-Alaba-has-withdrawn-from-international-duty

Maddisons involvement in Tottenhams chance creation is spectacular! Also is 99th percentile in shot creating actions and 93rd in progressive passes despite playing so high up the pitch.

Bellingham in certainly the more talented and well rounded player, but Maddison has had just as impressive a start to the season which should not be overlooked.

Bellingham as you can see is overperforming his xg drastically at this stage and that should normalise eventually. But if Joselu plays a decent bit of minutes this season (over 1700) he could be a top 3 scorer in the league.

Also love the box presence he offers the team, smth we haven't had since Morata and even that was as a backup. Having a central outlet occupying the CBs makes the creative players jobs so much easier.

He deserves much more respect and credit than he has gotten and never deserved the ... doubts in preseason.

(After losing a game to a Serie B side) “He turned beet red, and sitting next to him was Adriano Galliani, wearing a bright yellow tie. Together they looked like a rainbow. Two days later, he came and asked us to forgive him, because he could never be mean through and through. He’s a teddy bear, deep down. The secret of our track record is the fact that he’s a regular guy.” This is a quote by Paolo Maldini, who wrote the foreword. He talks about how Ancelotti was a dear friend, in addition to being a coach. He says that Carletto was the wind that made him flutter!

He genuinely is one of the few people who comes across as super likeable. The yin to Ten Hags yang ,sorry not sorry. Perfect vibes for the Brazil managerial role and top 3 RM manager ever.