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Real Madrid will not have Casemiro available on Tuesday night at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium when they face Athletic Bilbao.
After beating Sevilla, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Atlético de Madrid consecutively to zero, Real Madrid will have another great home game on Tuesday night at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium against Athletic Club.
The Basque side is never easy to deal with, even when Real don’t have to travel to San Mamés. Earlier this year, in their away game en route to a 34th league title, Los Blancos needed a penalty at the end to beat Bilbao 1-0.
This week, Real Madrid will be clear favorites, but they must win without Casemiro, who was sanctioned for his fifth yellow card of the season after fouling Joao Félix in the first half of El Derbi.
Here are three Real Blanca players who must take the step by Casemiro.
CM Toni Kroos
The best way to replace Casemiro is to go with a double pivot from Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, with Kroos falling deeper of the two as a record keeper who can help protect the defense a bit. He fulfilled that role perfectly in a win over Inter Milan, controlling the match alongside Modric in a Madrid masterclass.
Perhaps Zinedine Zidane could ask Kroos to do the same on matchday 14 of La Liga against Athletic Club instead of Casemiro. Modric and Kroos’ tandem with Martin Odegaard in an offensive midfielder role has been fruitful this season.
CM Fede Valverde
If Zidane chooses to stick with his usual three-man midfield setup in the 4-3-3 formation, then Fede Valverde becomes the point man.
Valverde returned to the pitch at El Derbi, playing the final moments for Modric after the Croat had run over. Modric may need to rest on Tuesday night against Bilbao, so Real Madrid could opt for Valverde to start instead of a double pivot from Kroos and Modric.
So far this season, Valverde has been one of the best Real players. Karim Benzema is the only player with more goals in the league than Valverde. It will be exciting for the madridistas to see him again in the starting eleven.
CB Raphael Varane
Casemiro’s greatest asset is the defensive coverage he demonstrates, which we saw firsthand on the two clean sheets over Gladbach and Atleti. The Brazilian defensive midfielder made life easier for Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos at center-back, as Real Madrid pulled Joao Félix and Luis Suárez out of the game on Saturday night.
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Varane will have to cover more Ramos, Dani Carvajal and the rest of the defense with Casemiro out. Valverde can cover a lot of ground and Kroos is effective in contributing despite his lack of speed, but there is no replacement for Casemiro. Therefore, it will be Varane who will have to give the maximum of all the defenders, even when it comes to compensating for Case’s ability to score goals with a header in the area from set pieces.
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