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After three consecutive defeats in the Liga in October, the third – Clasico's 5-1 defeat against Barcelona – was the straw for Julen Lopetegui. The Real has recently begun to show signs of life in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era. .
The mini resurgence under the successor of Lopetegui, Santiago Solari, who allowed the club to climb two points from Atletico Madrid, second in the standings, and to reach the Champions League 16, will face the Ultimate test Wednesday. Real will travel to Camp Nou to face Barca rivals again in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal.
Solari, who has recorded seven wins in the last eight games, will be reinforced by the news. It is unlikely that Barça's talisman, Lionel Messi, will figure after his thigh injury in Saturday's draw against Valencia.
Argentina is expected to undergo further testing before Wednesday's match, but reports suggest he was training separately from his teammates on Monday.
"For me, there are two predictions: one with Messi, one without Messi," Marca Juan Castro's reporter told CNN Sport. "Without Messi, I think both teams have the same opportunity (to reach the final).
"But with Messi, which is unlikely at the moment, the favorite is clearly Barcelona.The two teams arrive at the match with a sense of well-being, Solari has recovered a lot, (Karim) Benzema has an incredible recent record and Vinicius is the new sensation of reality. "
The problems of Ronaldo-less Real
The recent resurgence of Benzema has earned him six goals in his last four games, with the French having only scored twice in 13 games.
It is this inconsistency in front of the goal that has spoiled Real this season, as well as the background that leaves something to be desired, and that requires Benzema to badume alone the responsibility to replace the 50 goals of Ronaldo each season in l & rsquo; Continued absence of Gareth Bale.
"Real's problems this season are not solely due to Ronaldo's absence, but the main reason is his absence," Castro said. "Real made mistakes in his preparation for the season, but the most important was to allow Cristiano to leave – and for that money.
"The second mistake was not to sign a substitute for him, one or two players, and the third did not create another character capable of delivering all those goals in the attacker's position.
"It is clear that Benzema is replacing him in that he scores more goals than any other player, but that is not enough to replace the figures as important as Cristiano has published."
While it is clear that Real Madrid has made some improvements on the ground under Solari, seeking at least more chances to win every game contested, Castro is still not convinced of the impact of the Argentine coach on the team.
"I do not think it's a matter of names, I think it was a matter of time," says Castro. "In the sense that if Loptegui had stayed longer, he would probably have won all those matches like Solari.
"But Lopetegui did not have the time, I do not think it's his fault, I think it was a matter of time and not a question of what Solari brought to this team because if you enter in detail, Solari has also lost a lot of games.
"I will say that the biggest detail of the Solari team has been to give the team new blood, like Vinicius and Sergio Reguilon, which is very important because Marcelo was untouchable in his place.
"Solari had the courage to put Reguilon in Marcelo's place, so two major decisions were made, the third decision was to play Lucas more than Gareth Bale, and I think those three decisions were important to Solari."
Champions League? & # 39; Why not? & # 39;
Despite a difficult and largely disappointing season so far, Castro believes that there is a "big chance" that Real can win one or more trophies this season.
While all hope of winning a second La Liga title in seven years has long since evaporated, Real's know-how in knockout contests, especially the Champions League, means that he is difficult to discard them from a possible doubled.
"La Liga is obviously lost," said Castro. "The Copa of course, there are only three games to win to win the title, so of course it is possible and even more without Messi in the first game.
"And the Champions League, why not? I mean, some of the Champions League titles in the history of Real Madrid have been in worse times than this season in particular.
"Real Madrid on the big stage is really superior, it has a superior mentality, it grows a lot, so you can never say much to Real."
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