Ancelotti Made a Serious Mistake against Brest, It Could be Very Costly for Madrid

Real Madrid finished the Champions League group stage in eleventh place. This means that the Madrid team will have to face Celtic of Glasgow or Manchester City in the round of 32. Evidently, within the entity, they prefer to face the Scottish team rather than come up against Guardiola.

However, the Meringue team was close to climbing a spot in the standings. To do so, they needed to have won 0-5. And in that case, they would have faced Sporting of Portugal or Bruges in the play-offs. And Aston Villa or Lille in the round of 16.

Thus, it's difficult to understand Ancelotti's decision to bring in Alaba in the last minutes and replace Lucas Vázquez with Asencio. Just like Endrick, who is a forward, only played two minutes. For this reason, it seems that the technical staff wasn't fully aware of the situation in this last gameday.

In the noble area of Chamartín, they believe the team hasn't been up to par, especially against Lille and Milan. A point in those two games would have completely changed the situation, and the scenario would be much calmer at this moment.

The path to the 16th could be one of the most difficult remembered. And even though Madrid has already won "big ears" of all colors, it seems they want to surpass themselves. They will have to play one more round than expected, and this is a significant setback.

The schedule gives no respite

All this because the season is longer than ever, and, moreover, the schedule gives no respite. The sports management hopes and wishes it won't be a major problem for other competitions like the Copa del Rey.

On February 11 or 12, the first leg will be at the Etihad or Celtic Park. The return leg, which will be played at Bernabéu, will take place on the 18th or 19th. In a few hours, we will know the opponent Real Madrid will have in this kind of play-off.