Real eye title ahead of City showdown
BARCELONA, Spain, April 28, (AP): Carlo Ancelotti has a decision to make when Espanyol come to town on Saturday.
The Real Madrid coach can play his top players to have the best chance of wrapping up the Spanish league title, or he can focus on the Champions League semifinal decider against Manchester City on Wednesday.
Madrid need only one point from their remaining five matches to win a record-extending 35th league title, so Ancelotti will be tempted to give his reserves a chance to shine while reducing the risk for an untimely injury to a key player.
SOCCER
The apparently easy-going Ancelotti should know better than anyone which choice is best. After all, the 62-year-old Italian is on the brink of becoming the only coach to win titles in Europe’s five major leagues. He guided AC Milan to the 2004 Serie A title, Chelsea to the 2010 Premier League title, Paris Saint-Germain to the 2013 French title and Bayern Munich to the 2017 Bundesliga title.
And if Madrid can turn around their 4-3 loss at City when Pep Guardiola and his players visit Madrid, Ancelotti will be one victory from a fourth European Cup title.
Villarreal, Spain’s other Champions League semifinalist, play at Alavés on
Saturday. With Villarreal in seventh place, coach Unai Emery will likely rest his top players ahead of hosting Liverpool on Tuesday trailing 2-0 after the first leg.
Ancelotti’s recipe for success this season has been sticking with his best players and maintaining a very short rotation. But with the title so close and City looming, this weekend looks like a perfect time to let 36-year-old Luka Modric and 34-yearold Karim Benzema take a break.
Benzema is having a Ballon d’Orcaliber season. The France striker has 41 goals in 41 games overall. He leads the Spanish league with 25 goals, and has scored eight goals in the Champions League knockout rounds, including two at City on Tuesday. When he has not been on the field, Madrid has struggled. The team’s only league setback in 2022 was a 4-0 loss to Barcelona when Benzema was out with an injury.
But Ancelotti could leave him on the bench and start one of his reserves - a group that includes the much maligned Gareth Bale.
Espanyol beat Madrid 2-1 at home in October. But the Barcelona-based club haven’t won at Madrid since April 1996. Even if Espanyol managec to pull off an upset, Madrid would still have four more games to clinch the title ahead of Barcelona and Sevilla.
Espanyol have lost all six league games they have played on the road this year and endured a disappointing 1-0 loss at home against Rayo Vallecano last week. Espanyol midfielder Yangel Herrera, however, said his team can pull off the surprise and postpone Madrid’s celebrations.
Madrid have been playing like a champion-in-waiting for several weeks after theirclosest rivals self-destructed.
Barcelona had a glimmer of hope after their rout at the Santiago Bernabéu last month, only for them to be embarrassed in home losses against Cádiz and Rayo Vallecano. Add a loss to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League and Barcelona have lost three in a row in all competitions in the same season for the first time ever at Camp Nou.
Now the team coached by Xavi Hernández must ensure they lock up a top-four finish and a Champions League berth to avoid another blow to the club’s reputation and their poor finances. Atlético Madrid are two points behind in fourth place, but Real Betis and Real Sociedad are within striking distance.