Ancelotti and his staff consider Real Madrid star’s new injury a major setback – report | OneFootball

Real Madrid lost in-form midfielder Dani Ceballos to a fresh injury earlier this week during the team’s 1-0 win over Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg.

The 28-year-old is now expected to be out of action for close to two months which comes as a blow for the Merengues, given how well Ceballos was performing in recent weeks.

Ancelotti and staff see Ceballos injury is huge blow

Now, MARCA reports that Ancelotti and his coaching staff see Ceballos’ injury-enforced absence as a major setback as he helped bring the balance to the team that the manager sought.

Ceballos’ absence is not just about his form or his starting role – he was the player who had given Ancelotti the perfect balance in midfield. The coach had finally found the right formula, and it was built around the ex-Real Betis star.

Now, with the Spaniard sidelined, Real Madrid are weakened in several areas, which is a serious concern.

For starters, Ceballos brought the balance to the midfield, helping fill the void left by Toni Kroos’ retirement. The Spaniard helped Real Madrid with more fluidity, speed, and verticality in midfield.

Out for two months. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

At the same time, Ceballos is extremely aggressive in pressing, covering large areas of the pitch, anticipating passes, and forcing turnovers in dangerous positions. He is also tactically disciplined and excels at making high recoveries to launch counterattacks.

Real Madrid, thus, will miss that level of intensity and defensive work in the center.

Indirect impacts

Furthermore, Ceballos’ absence is not just a matter of quality, but also quantity. Real Madrid do not have a very deep squad, and losing another midfielder makes it even harder for Ancelotti to manage his resources especially in a cramped fixture schedule.

One of Ceballos’ biggest contributions in recent months was allowing Ancelotti to deploy Federico Valverde at right-back.

With Ceballos in midfield, Ancelotti could afford to move Valverde to defense without sacrificing intensity and ball progression in the middle of the pitch. However, without him, Ancelotti will now be hesitant to play Valverde in defence, as it weakens the midfield significantly.

Ancelotti must now find the right formula to keep Real Madrid competitive without one of his most important midfielders.