Real Madrid defence line had several problems against Real Sociedad. Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane were the two full back chosen by Zidane and their mistakes almost caused some goals to Real Madrid. Luckily for Los Blancos, the Basque team wasn’t accurate at all and they missed all the chances.
The good news for Zidane is that he is going to have more people to include in the defence soon. Pepe was training yesterday with the squad and he is set to return to the team. He could be included in the list for the next game against Celta this weekend at Santiago Bernabéu. However, maybe is too soon for the Portuguese defender, who came back from holidays on the 10th of August.
He could enjoy longer holidays after winning the Euro trophy with Portugal. Pepe was the Real Madrid footballer who played more minutes (630) in the Euro. The defender was a key player in the Portuguese squad and was chosen ‘Man of the Match’ in the Euro final against France.
Initially, Pepe should be the third full back for Zidane. Last season, the Portuguese also started on the bench with Rafael Benítez but his good performances changed the coach opinion and he was finally included in the starting eleven. Last year, Pepe played 21 games in La Liga, all in the initial line up.
Pepe is about to start his tenth season at Real Madrid. He has been a very important player in the recent history of the club and he will be fighting for a place in the squad together with Sergio Ramos, Varane and Nacho.
Zidane might want to wait a bit more for Pepe and leave him out from the list for the game against Celta. The French coach has been very cautious with the injury players in this start of the season. After this weekend, there will be time for the national teams, so Real Madrid won’t play again until the 10th of September, time more than enough to recover all the players with physical problems.
