Zinedine Zidane has a selection headache of a different kind

The Frenchman often says that the most challenging part of his work is the players leaving the squad on match days.

Zidane has a selection headache

In the last weeks of this season at Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane has a selection headache of a different kind. The Frenchman often says that the most challenging part of his work is the players leaving the squad on match days. These decisions will now carry more weight because, after three months of lack of games and five weeks of intense practicing. There will still be players who will miss on the first match back against Eibar at Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. The new rules state that teams will now be allowed to have teams of up to 23 players on match day. And managers will be able to use five substitutes per match. At the moment, Zizou has 26 footballers in his first team. If we count the third-choice goalkeeper Diego Altube.

Without injuring Luka Jovic, that is only 25, and two players will have to miss each match. Zidane is not at risk and will include all three of his team’s goalkeepers. So those two places will go to outfield players. That is bad news for James Rodriguez and Brahim Diaz, who are the most likely to drop out due to their relation with Zidane and the number of attacking midfielders already in the team. However, with five substitutes allowed from the bench of 12 players, there will still be seven who do not enter the field, plus these two are sitting in the stands. That’s Zidane’s equation is now solved – seven plus two. The attacking footballers could suffer the most, given the strength in depth that Zidane has at his disposal – Eden Hazard, Marco Asensio, Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo Goes, Lucas Vazquez, Gareth Bale, and co. can’t play every game.