Cristiano Ronaldo Dismissal at Cordoba Can Benefit Real Madrid Need for Rotation

Real Madrid were highly fortunate to scrape a 2-1 victory away to Cordoba on Saturday in a tired performance capped off by Cristiano Ronaldo's late dismissal. 

It was a horribly lethargic display from Madrid, who were outshot by their hosts and managed just four efforts on target over the course of the 90 minutes, as per WhoScored.com.

Carlo Ancelotti has continually played down the need to introduce more rotations into his first XI. But Saturday’s performance demonstrated that some of his players are falling below the levels of play they produced during Madrid’s 22-match winning streak earlier in the campaign.

Per Soccerway, Ronaldo and Toni Kroos are Madrid’s two most utilised players in La Liga this season, and neither of them has been at their best in recent weeks.

Ronaldo was off-colour on Saturday. He barely touched the ball during the opening 45 minutes, had a couple of very poor free-kick attempts (one well-over; one weakly into the wall) and then let his frustration get the better of him in the latter part of the match.

He was lucky not to be sent off for striking Jose Crespo in the face inside the penalty area on 80 minutes, but he kicked out at Edimar Fraga a short time later. Referee Alejandro Hernandez had little option but to reach for a red card.

The Portugal international even pushed his arm in Crespo's face one more time before departing the field.

Ronaldo and his compatriot Bebe would be in contention for the titles of the best and worst signings of Sir Alex Ferguson’s long tenure at Manchester United, yet on Saturday, Bebe came out on top. The 24-year-old consistently troubled the left side of the Madrid defence with his powerful dribbling from deep.

The Cordoba winger was quick, strong and full of life, while Ronaldo never got out of first gear.

Ancelotti’s lack of rotation has perhaps been most evident in the Madrid forward line. Ronaldo, Gareth Bale (himself quiet on Saturday despite scoring the late winner from the penalty spot) and Karim Benzema are automatic choices when fit.

Javier Hernandez, signed on loan from Manchester United toward the end of the summer transfer window, has barely had a look-in, while Jese Rodriguez has only made cameo appearances off the bench since his return from injury.

Ronaldo’s sending-off will, of course, force Ancelotti’s hand for next weekend’s visit of Real Sociedad. Jese looks best positioned to step in, although the possibility remains that James Rodriguez will move to wide forward—a role he occasionally played earlier in the season. 

As Ronaldo’s red card came as a result of violent conduct, it is highly probable that he will be banned for a further two matches, which would also see him miss the fixtures at home to Sevilla and away to local rivals Atletico Madrid.

Those will be hard matches with Ronaldo out of the lineup. But this may not have happened if Ancelotti had rested Ronaldo from some of his side’s less demanding fixtures.

Did the 29-year-old really need to start against Getafe last weekend? Or against the likes of Almeria and Granada? With qualification already assured, why was he part of the first XI for Madrid’s final Champions League group-stage match against Ludogorets?

Indeed, if there is one criticism that can be levelled at Ancelotti, it is that he is not always proactive in fixing his team’s flaws. It often takes a particularly poor result to jolt him into action. He is a master problem-solver once he puts his mind to it, but he seems to require a clear reason to do so.

Ronaldo’s dismissal will hopefully provide him with the necessary impetus to deal with his tired squad and rotate on a more regular basis in order to protect his key players from frustrating afternoons like the one that befell Ronaldo and others on Saturday.