How Real Madrid will line up in 2023-24
Tom Weber
- Updated: 10 Aug 2023 17:31 BST
- 4 min read
Real Madrid will hope that the 2023/24 season is more successful than the previous one, but they head into the new campaign with two problem areas in their squad.
Despite spending €128 million on new transfers, Los Blancos' squad looks far from polished and this appears unlikely to change before the end of the transfer window. The decision to not go for Kylian Mbappe this summer is a gamble from Florentino Perez - will it pay off?
Attack
Without Mbappe and following the departure of Karim Benzema, Real Madrid really only have one proper number nine at the club: Espanyol loanee Joselu.
Though the Spaniard has become quite prolific in recent years, it is unlikely that he is the calibre of player that can help Los Blancos reclaim the Champions League and LaLiga. In fact, he may not even be a guaranteed starter.
Lining up in the 4-4-2 diamond system that Carlo Ancelotti has been employing in pre-season, we have gone for an all-Brazilian front two of the exciting talents of Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo. Can they score enough goals to make Madridistas forget about Benzema and Mbappe?
Midfield
Figuring out what midfield configuration Ancelotti will go with this season was tough as the Italian has a wealth of options at his disposal. Indeed, in pre-season, the likes of Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde have received starting berths, but so too have the experienced heads of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
We think that Ancelotti will stick with his veterans in his new-look diamond midfield. Eduardo Camavinga, utilised at left-back last term, will revert to his favoured position and star boy Jude Bellingham will be the most attacking option.
Defence
It's not quite clear which will be Ancelotti's favoured centre-back partnership, but have gone with David Alaba and Eder Militao over Antonio Rudiger.
Fran Garcia gets the nod over Ferland Mendy, who has had a truly weird time of it at the Bernabeu, and Dani Carvajal starts over Lucas Vasquez at right-back.
READ: Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in race to sign Chelsea flop
Finally, we reach what must be Ancelotti's biggest area of concern: the goalkeeper position. Thibaut Courtois has gone down with an ACL injury and will miss most if not all of the season, leaving Andriy Lunin as the only available option between the sticks.
Though talks with free agent David de Gea and Kepa Arrizabalaga have already been initiated, Lunin is the current number one as things stand.
