(Football news) Real Madrid haven’t had the best of starts to the year 2023 as the side was failing to score enough goals. However since the international break got over it has been good. Real Madrid have scored 12 goals in 3 games including 4 against Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

The main thing Carlo Ancelotti has started to do is play Rodrygo up front along with Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr. Apart from that there has been a major change in midfield which is far more attacking on paper as well as on the field. Real Madrid have a UCL tie against Chelsea coming up and it will be interesting to see whether he goes into the game with a similar approach.

Carlo Ancelotti did it against Real Valladolid and Villarreal because Madrid were expected to dominate those games. Against Barcelona, Los Blancos had to comeback from a goal down so the Italian needed to attack. Against Valladolid and Villarreal, Real Madrid lined up with Karim Benzema at striker, Vinicius Jr on the left while Rodrygo and Marco Asensio interchanged positions at right wing and attacking midfield.In both those games, Real Madrid attacked very well with a double pivot in midfield however against Villarreal they conceded 3 goals which can happen when they go so attacking.

In the Barcelona game despite having Aurélien Tchouaméni available, Real Madrid started with a midfield of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Fede Valverde. Chelsea are having a torrid season but they will still possess an attacking threat. Going in with just 2 proper midfielder will be very risky but Real Madrid could do the same thing that they did against Barcelona which worked wonders. Another area that lacks clarity in terms of personnel is left back. With Ferland Mendy unavailable, Eduardo Camavinga, David Alaba and Nacho have all started there. It will be interesting to see who Carlo Ancelotti preferrs and who he benches.

Also read: Barcelona aim to go 15 points clear on the La Liga table