Alvaro Arbeloa faces the toughest test of his senior managerial career so far tomorrow night when his Real Madrid side take on Bayern Munich in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal tie.
The Merengues are trailing by a 2-1 deficit and will have to play the decisive reverse fixture away from home.
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Ahead of the game, the manager has several selection dilemmas of which the most pronounced one is in midfield.
One specific confusion
As reported by Tiempo de Juego in a recent update, Arbeloa has three of his four midfield places locked in for the big night. One spot, however, continues to generate confusion.
Jude Bellingham and Thiago Pitarch are two players who are set to start on the night without doubt, with both players likely to feature in central midfield roles to progress the ball.
Aurelien Tchouameni’s unavailability sees Federico Valverde likely having to step into the defensive midfield role, especially with Eduardo Camavinga failing Arbeloa’s test at the weekend.
Arbeloa has a big decision to make. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
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The fourth spot, however, remains contested between Arda Guler and Brahim Diaz, and Arbeloa is still unclear as to which of the players is better suited for the occasion.
While Guler has been more consistent this season, his record with Bellingham on the field is not as impressive, with both players often playing into each other’s territories. He will bring creativity, but at the cost of stability.
Brahim, on the other hand, did a great job at replacing Kylian Mbappe over the past two months and brings a more direct attacking threat.
Given the game situation, that is a valuable quality, except that it will come at the cost of some added midfield stability.
Which of the two Arbeloa decides to hand the start, thus, will be interesting to watch.
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