Ancelotti’s adamant - but should he switch Vinícius and Mbappé’s Real Madrid positions?

With the international break now over, Real Madrid return to LaLiga action with a visit to 14th-placed Leganés - an eminently winnable away assignment for Los Blancos, albeit Butarque is hardly a straightforward place to go to.

By the time they take to the field on the outskirts of the Spanish capital on Sunday, Madrid will already know Barcelona’s matchday-14 result. The league leaders face a tough visit to Celta Vigo on Saturday - and if Hansi Flick’s men come unstuck in Galicia, Madrid could end the weekend within three points of their arch rivals, with a game in hand (having had their matchday-12 clash with Valencia postponed over the deadly flooding on the east coast of Spain).

But all that is dependent on victory at Butarque - where, however Carlo Ancelotti sets up his team, Madrid’s forward line is certain to feature the superstar duo of Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé.

How could Madrid line up against Leganés?

With winger Rodrygo Goes out injured, there appear to be two options open to Madrid’s head coach. The visitors could play with four midfielders and two forwards, or maintain the 4-3-3 formation with which they thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last time out, in their best performance of the season so far. Against the Navarrese, Brahim Díaz came on when Rodrygo was forced off, preserving Madrid’s three-man attack. And, judging by recent form, Ancelotti would be advised to bring Brahim into an attacking trio once more: after all, he scored no fewer than five goals in two games for Morocco during international week.

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Ancelotti adamant he won’t change Vinícius and Mbappé roles

But, whatever happens, Mbappé and Vinícius will get the nod in Leganés. And they’ll line up just as they have all season: with the Brazilian on the left, and the Frenchman leading the line through the middle. This is a subject that has generated debate: should Ancelotti switch things up to allow Mbappé to drift in from the left, a role he has played to lethal effect both for France and his former club, Paris Saint-Germain? It’s a question that continues to be asked, but Ancelotti appears unmoved: he’s adamant he won’t be making such a change.

Indeed, the Italian has said so quite consistently for a while now. In an interview with the Spanish TV show El Chiringuito de Jugones at the end of the 2023/24 season, Ancelotti revealed that Vinícius had grown less comfortable on the left flank, having played more centrally in last term’s 4-4-2, a formation the Madrid coach had designed to accommodate the arrival of attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham. “I tell Vinícius: you need to be able to play on the left,” Ancelotti said - and, following Mbappé’s summer signing, the 65-year-old was clear on his plan to field the new boy at center-forward.

“Fitting Mbappé into the team won’t be a problem, he’ll adapt,” Ancelotti said in July. “What’s important is that each player applies his talent and ability for the benefit of the team. I envision him playing in an attack that’s fairly fluid. The pitch is 68 meters wide, and we have to cover that space with our forwards.” In August, in the wake of Mbappé’s first game time as Madrid’s center-forward, Ancelotti doubled down: “He’s a top [central] striker - he’s really quick and attacks the space in behind the defenders. He doesn’t need to play on the left or the right. At the end of the day, he’s going to score goals.”

Speaking before the win over Osasuna two weeks ago, Ancelotti added: “I haven’t wanted to change the position of [Vinícius], a player who’s a match winner, and because I think that Mbappé has all the tools to play as a [central] striker. Sometimes they interchange positions [during games], but I don’t want to touch [their initial positions].”

What are Vinícius and Mbappé’s 2024/25 stats for Real Madrid?

So far this season, Vinícius has amply demonstrated the penetration and deadly finishing that he offers when cutting in from the left: he has racked up 12 goals and seven assists in 1,400 minutes of action. But at the same time, this term’s figures also illustrate Mbappé’s apparent discomfort at No. 9: he has eight goals and just two assists in more than 1,300 minutes of playing time, and has netted only once in his last seven appearances.

The solution lies in fluid movement in attack, as Ancelotti has pointed out, and in Mbappé getting to grips with the role of the center-forward as quickly as possible. Because as things stand, the boss doesn’t appear to be contemplating a change to his star forwards’ starting positions.

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