Three talking points ahead of Olympiacos vs Real Madrid | UEFA Champions League | OneFootball

Tensions are running high in the Spanish capital as Xabi Alonso, the Real Madrid board, and the dressing room appear to be in a three-way battle for power at the club.

Adding to the tension is the fact that the team are winless in three games with two draws and a defeat across competitions. For Real Madrid’s standards, such a run of form is simply unacceptable.

Tomorrow night, Los Blancos return to action, this time against Olympiacos in the UEFA Champions League as their gruelling away schedule continues. The pressure, needless to say, will be on them as they enter the game as favourites.

Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Olympiacos vs Real Madrid.

Pressure mounting on Alonso

If Real Madrid’s recent slump in form has made one thing clear, it is that Xabi Alonso is not as internally supported as many expected at the beginning of the season.

Recent days have seen several reports emerge over the doubts beginning to creep in about the new manager’s project, and while these are still early days, the extent of scrutiny is worrying.

For starters, it is rumoured that the board themselves are beginning to question Alonso’s credibility and whether he is the right man for the job. Their concern, however, is only fuelled by the deeper lying root cause which is the rift between the players and the manager.

Alonso seems to have lost the locker room with his methods, and some big names in the squad are said to be against him. 

With the pressure mounting on Alonso internally and in terms of results, the manager will hope that the team can pull off a win on the night to help take some pressure off his shoulders.

One man standing

Last man standing. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

While it will indeed be Alonso’s idea to get three points by hook or by crook tomorrow against Olympiacos, the situation at centre-back does not help him in any way.

Ahead of Real Madrid’s game against Elche at the weekend, the coach had just two fit senior players in the department available for selecation – Dean Huijsen and Raul Asencio.

The former, however, experienced discomfort in the buildup to tomorrow’s game and is ruled out of the game. With Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba, and Eder Militao still out, that leaves Asencio as the only fit available centre-back.

Hence, Alonso finds himself in a fix as he must work out a combination that can fill the void and stay solid enough to propel the team to a win. His options, needless to say, are limited.

Aurelien Tchouameni, who is just returning from injury, is an option to fill in alongside Asencio in central defence. Ferland Mendy is another option, although the manager is unlikely to turn to him given his lack of match fitness.

Shifting someone like Alvaro Carreras to centre-back is a third option. In any case, the defence will be fragile come Wednesday and Alonso must be careful picking his lineup.

No room for error

With nine points in four games, Real Madrid currently sit in seventh place on the UEFA Champions League table and are three points behind leaders Bayern Munich, Arsenal, and Inter Milan.

After all, they have won all their games in the competition this season barring the defeat to Liverpool on the last match-day – a result that set off their poor run of form which they are yet to recover from.

With four more games to go in the league phase, Real Madrid are currently well-placed to finish in the top eight and directly advance to the knockouts. That, however, will change dramatically if they drop points tomorrow.

While a defeat against Olympiacos will not directly threaten Real Madrid’s chances of direct qualification, one must remember that they are yet to play against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Given the team’s current run of form, a win over the Premier League giants is anything but guaranteed and Real Madrid must thus look to win the three remaining games to stay on the safer side. Tomorrow’s result, therefore, becomes crucial.

For a team in jeopardy both on and off the field, it is easier said than done to win away from home and under pressure, but the men in white have no choice given that future opponents including Benfica and Manchester City pose more serious threats.