Madrid prefer Ramos in midfield to €82 million trio of Illarramendi, Lucas Silva and Khedira

Madrid prefer Ramos in midfield to €82 million trio of Illarramendi, Lucas Silva and Khedira

It took Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti 60 seconds to discard Asier Illarramendi and Lucas Silva as possible options to replace Luka Modric in the Champions League derby with Atletico. The Italian didn't have faith in his back-up midfield players, two players who have cost the club €64 million. Florentino Perez is not satisified. 

"Within a minute of Luka Modric getting injured I knew I would play Sergio Ramos," Ancelotti admitted after beating Atletico in April. It worked out well because Ramos neutralised the threat of Diego Simeone's side in the air in the middle of the pitch and Madrid qualified for the Champions League semi-final. 

Ancelotti deployed the same tactic against Sevilla. He left on the bench the €50 million Illarramendi and the €14 million Lucas Silva, even though Modric was still sidelined and will be until the end of the season. It's not long ago that Ancelotti called Illarramendi the "natural heir" to Xabi Alonso, who was banned for the Lisbon final last year, before choosing to pick the €18 million Sami Khedira over him. 

In Sevilla he chose not to use Khedira, not because he's injured, but because he is set to leave for free in the summer and is not in his plans. Once again, he went for Sergio Ramos. 

Lucas Silva's situation is most alarming. A winter signing, the first impression he gave, against Schalke, was a positive one. He played well and kept his place in the side until the draw against Villarreal at the Bernabeu. Since then, he's hardly been seen. 

As for Illarra, his future does not look like being in Madrid. Ancelotti has no faith in his substitutes, even though Javier Hernandez has done well recently. The Italian has many strong points, but rotating has not been one of them at Los Blancos. 

He does not give players many chances to start. Hernandez has shown why he should consider rotating more, but Coentrao, Jese, Illarra, Lucas Silva and Keylor Navas have not had the same luck as their Mexican colleague. All may have to look somewhere else if they want to play more minutes.