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Brest vs Real Madrid: Three key battles to keep an eye on

Brest vs Real Madrid: Three key battles to keep an eye on
Brest vs Real Madrid: Three key battles to keep an eye on

Real Madrid are set to play their last League Phase match in the newly formatted UEFA Champions League tonight. The Merengues will be looking to get a win and hoping for some other results to fall their way to get a direct qualification for the Round of 16 of the competition.

However, even getting a win in this match will not really be easy as the French side has been one of the surprise teams of this edition of the UCL. They are currently standing above Los Blancos in the UCL table, having accumulated 1 more point than their tonight’s rivals.

Still, they are still outside of the top 8, and as is the case with Real Madrid, Brest will also be looking to get a win as they also have a chance to go straight into the Round of 16 with a win and some results going their way.

Thus, this is going to be a very enticing tie between two teams who have a lot at stake. But the final result of this match can very well be decided by individual quality, and there will be three interesting battles to keep an eye on in this match:

Kylian Mbappe vs Brendan Chardonnet

Kylian Mbappe has started showing his actual colours only in the last few games, as he is back to his best and is scoring at will. Only in the last game against Real Valladolid, he scored his first hat-trick for Real Madrid.

Now, he will be looking to showcase his skills in the UCL as well, particularly so because he has been able to score only 3 goals in this competition up to now in 7 appearances. Keeping his form from the last few weeks in mind, hardly anyone would be betting against the Frenchman getting on the scoresheet as he returns to his native France.

Thus, the Brest defender Brendan Chardonnet will be having the inauspicious task of facing the former PSG star. However, the centre-back will be looking forward to this battle, as he has been a key defender for his side, and particularly stands out with his position. His stats have been quite good, as he recovers 3.6 balls in every match.

Mahdi Camara vs Aurelien Tchouameni

Real Madrid’s star-studded midfield will certainly be looking to establish their hold in the middle of the pitch for this game, with Jude Bellingham, Dani Ceballos, Federico Valverde, and Aurelien Tchouameni all ready to play this match.

On the other hand, for Brest, it will be Mahdi Camara who would be looking to make things happen, as he has been doing for the most part of this season. He averages 0.9 key passes in every game, and can also unbalance the Merengue midfield with his dribbling. The French midfielder has 2 assists to his name this season, but can also get on the scoresheet, as he has done 4 times already.

However, one of his compatriots, Aurelien Tchouameni, would be looking to keep him in shackles in this game. The Real Madrid midfielder is ready to play after remaining an unused substitute in his last UCL game against Salzburg.

He has not been at his best level this season, and tonight’s match will be a good opportunity for him to showcase his utility in the midfield ahead of a crucial phase of the season.

Ludovic Ajorque vs Antonio Rudiger

Despite being the reference striker for his team, Ludovic Ajorque has not yet been able to open his scoring account in the UEFA Champions League this season. He has 2 assists to his name in this competition and will be looking to get at least 1 goal before the League Phase concludes with the match tonight.

However, despite the Merengues’ struggles with injury in their backline, the French forward will not really find it easy to get a goal tonight as he will be facing one of the best defenders in the world, Antonio Rudiger, in this match.

The German centre-back’s experience and skills will once again be key for Ancelotti’s team to keep a clean-sheet, especially as his partner in the centre of the defence will either be an inexperienced Raul Asencio or the recently recovered David Alaba, who might still need some time to get back to his best level.