Garcia: Real Madrid wasted the first half<\/em>\n\nWas it the time to align Antonio R\u00fcdiger alongside \u00c9der Milit\u00e3o in defense? Is Fede Valverde a long-term option at right-back? Did it make sense to substitute Arda G\u00fcler for Eduardo Camavinga at halftime?<\/p>\n\nIt seems that Xabi Alonso is still experimenting, which is not ideal considering he took over the team in June. The team has one win in five matches and has now lost the lead in LaLiga. That is the pressure of managing Real Madrid.\n\n\n
Are Paris Saint-Germain playing with fire?<\/h2>\n\n\nThey are the champions of Europe and the popular narrative is that they can win all national titles without problems, as their only real challenge is in the Champions League. But after Lens’ victory over Angers, PSG does not lead Ligue 1. In fact, if it weren’t for Olympique de Marseille’s ability to self-harm, they would be third.\n\n
Are there mitigating factors? In fact, they are better than in their first 20 matches of last season. And the usual answer is that the Club World Cup, plus the lack of a proper pre-season, have impacted their campaign. Except that three of the 13 victories this season came thanks to goals scored after the 90th minute, which is not ideal for a team that is supposed to be dominant. And the problem with the pre-season excuse is that they actually started very well, with seven wins in their first nine matches.<\/p>\n\nInjuries matter; of course they do. Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 (five) and D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9 (seven) have only started in twelve matches between them. Right now, both full-backs (Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi) are out. But other clubs also have players out, and you can’t help but wonder if, perhaps, some people take Le Championnat for granted to the point that even an injured team like Monaco, who are coming off three consecutive league defeats, can defeat them with a bit of good fortune.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What a weekend of football in the five major European leagues! The Premier League gave us a stellar duel between two London title contenders, which culminated in a 1-1 draw full of intensity. Both Chelsea and Arsenal fans, despite the result, should be satisfied. In Spain, Xabi Alonso continues his work to transform Real Madrid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[140,220,139,254],"class_list":{"0":"post-92301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-chelsea","10":"tag-premier-league","11":"tag-real-madrid"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/figure>\n\n\nShould Arsenal have generated more against Chelsea with 10 men?<\/em>\n\nThe importance of Caicedo in the team is undeniable. He is one of the two best players at Chelsea, along with Cole Palmer, and is the defensive brain of the midfield.\n\nWith Caicedo’s absence, Reece James took on the leadership role. James, Chelsea’s captain, delivered a standout performance alongside Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez. A player from the youth academy in a derby full of intensity.\n\nWithout Caicedo, Maresca opted for Liam Delap, who did a good job. Replacing Est\u00eav\u00e3o was a wise decision. Chelsea, although only adding one point, demonstrated great value for a young team in growth.\n\nRegarding the arbitration, Anthony Taylor was correct with Caicedo’s expulsion. The same opinion cannot be held with Piero Hincapi\u00e9’s incident on Trevoh Chalobah. The Chelsea coach stated that Taylor told him that “there was no elbow.” Perhaps there was a lack of communication, but VAR should have intervened.\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fmedia%2Fmotion%2F2025%2F1130%2Fdm_251130_COM_SOC_ANALYSIS_Garcia_Real_Madrid_wasted_the_first_half_2025_11_30%2Fdm_251130_COM_SOC_ANALYSIS_Garcia_Real_Madrid_wasted_the_first_half_2025_11_30.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure>\n\n\nGarcia: Real Madrid wasted the first half<\/em>\n\n