Real Madrid suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of their local rivals Atletico Madrid, and Carlo Ancelotti made a number of key errors over his tactical decisions.
The starting XI he picked for the derby contained a lot of surprises, as striker Joselu found himself on the bench, as well as midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni.
Veterans Toni Kroos and Luka Modric both started, with Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo forming the attack, and Real Madrid were comfortably beaten all over the pitch.
Ancelotti’s decision to drop Tchouameni proved highly costly, as his side lacked legs in midfield with both veterans playing. Whilst Kroos did score, Modric was substituted at half time, with Los Blancos unable to raise their own intensity.
Tchouameni should have started
The Frenchman had started this season well having struggled in the second half of the last campaign and he should have definitely been in the starting XI for such a tough away game.
Picking both Kroos and Modric no longer appears to be a viable option, as the side do not have the legs to cope with both veterans, but the 23-year-old is perhaps the ideal player who could have made this setup work.
Unlike Eduardo Camavinga, Tchouameni is a natural defensive midfielder, and he could have provided extra protection to the back four. With both of Alvaro Morata’s goals coming from headers, Tchouameni could have added additional aerial security in the box.
Ancelotti’s decisions will be heavily scrutinised in the wake of such a damaging defeat, and this was perhaps the most significant error of them all.
Real Madrid had won all of their games prior to the derby, but were unconvincing on a number of occasions, relying on last-minute winners from Jude Bellingham to bail them out, and the surprise changes to the lineup meant that the chickens came home to roost for Ancelotti.