Khaberni - It appears that Xabi Alonso, the manager of Real Madrid, has decided to surprise Manchester City during their match tonight, Wednesday, in the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid will host its opponent Manchester City at the "Santiago Bernabéu" stadium as part of the sixth round of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League.
The royal team is suffering from several absences on the defensive side, following Eder Militao's injury in the last match against Celta Vigo in the Spanish league, along with the continuing absences of Dean Huysen, Dani Carvajal, and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
There are also doubts about the readiness of the French star, Kylian Mbappé, the team's striker, who was not in full fitness during Real Madrid's training session on Tuesday.
Real Madrid has 12 points in its UEFA Champions League tally, ranking sixth, while Manchester City has 10 points in the 12th position.
According to "Marca" newspaper, Xabi Alonso has decided to implement the "Endrick plan," by relying on the Brazilian star who has been away from participating in the team's matches for the past period.
The newspaper said: "The coach had a private talk with the Brazilian striker and showed more interest in him than usual during the training session, directing direct instructions to him."
The report continued: "This interest in Endrick, along with the doubts surrounding the possibility of Mbappé participating, could mean that the Brazilian striker now has a small chance to play a significant role against City, whether as a starter or substitute. If he starts, it would be his first time this season and the first under Xabi's command, and if he comes off the bench, it would be his first appearance after more than a month, since his 11-minute play against Valencia on November 1st, which are the only minutes he has played so far. Additionally, his forthcoming absence in the match against Alavés due to suspension (after being sent off against Celta) increases the likelihood that this will be his only available time before the break."
Marca clarified: "This would be a surprising adventure given the few opportunities the player had since recovering from his last injury, and his current situation makes him very close to leaving in the winter market, where the option of loaning him starting January is strongly considered, with his potential destination, Olympique Lyon, being widely circulated."
It mentioned that "with the possibility of Mbappé's absence or benching to avoid risks, a window of opportunity opens up for players who have not had many minutes this season, Endrick and Gonzalo, both candidates to fill the '9' spot if the French star is not ready to start against City. However, Mastantuono, Rodrigo, and Brahim Díaz do not have the right specifications for this role, nor are they in their best conditions, which makes the identity of Vinicius' partner in attack more ambiguous than ever."
It emphasized: "Under normal circumstances, Gonzalo would have been the priority to lead the attack against City since he has participated with Xabi more this season (163 minutes spread over 13 games) and because he is more rhythmically fit, having played about 400 additional minutes with the under-21 national team. But more importantly, he was the successful solution that the coach resorted to in order to compensate for Mbappé's absence in the FIFA Club World Cup; with Endrick injured then, Xabi bet on Gonzalo, who lived up to the trust and scored four goals, becoming a regular in every match of the tournament in the United States."
