The lineups are sometimes a statement of intent by the coach who puts them on the field. One after the other or in isolation. With those of Ancelotti an idea is clear: Camavinga has become an essential player, almost inevitable. The youngest member of the squad has assumed different roles in this Real Madrid: pivot, left-back and revulsive. And in all three he develops with an unusual solvency for his youth. The eleven in the derby gave the match the importance of an interwar match, between the battle of Liverpool and the Clásico that is coming in the Cup. Ancelotti still reserved Tchouameni, rotated Modric and Camavinga did too, as if he were a permanent starter who needed rest. Maybe it already is.
After the World Cup Camavinga has taken a renewed impulse. In a section of the season subscribed to the rotations, the one from Cabinda is not that he has joined them, but that he has dodged them and has established itself as the owner. Firstly due to circumstances, but he has ended up earning it with his performances on the field. The injury that Tchouameni suffered in January gave the former Rennes a starting position, first as an interior (Carletto used Kroos as a pivot in the first games) and later as 5. When he seemed destined to return to the bench, Mendy’s loss opened the door for him on the left side, a position in which he astonished in the final minutes of the World Cup final.
Camavinga has doubled his presence in the first team. In the first 21 games of the season he played 730 minutes; In the 17 games that have been played after Qatar, he adds 1,268 ′. Only Rüdiger (1,455′), Vinicius (1,400) and Valverde (1,341) have played more minutes after the World Cup. He has gone from being a starter in 33% of the matches (7 of 21) to being one in 76% (13 of 17). In the derby he dropped out of the eleven after 13 consecutive starts. The last 11, completing the 90 minutes.
A substitution that could only be an indication of what is to come, anticipating his return to the initial team in the Clásico cupbearer. And that at the same time It made him recover his facet as a revulsion from the bench. That ‘revolutionary’ profile of matches that was uncovered in the last glorious Champions League. In 27 minutes he had time to attempt two shots and complete two dribbles (the second for the entire team in both sections) and once again show off his versatility. He started in midfield and ended up as a left back.
For the Cup, Valverde stands as the starter in the attack trident due to the loss of Rodrygo, which opens a vacancy in the pivot flanked by Kroos and Modric. Camavinga, the youngest of Ancelotti’s squad, disputes the position with Tchouameni, a signing of 80 million euros. It is not only a question of a place in the eleven, it is also a matter of status.
