As Jude Bellingham said during yesterday afternoon’s press conference, the word ‘comeback’ has been the most frequently mentioned in Real Madrid’s locker room since they boarded the flight back from London a week ago. But to achieve that, many things will need to change from what was seen at the Emirates Stadium… and Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly considering a tactical shake-up to chase the comeback against Arsenal.

Ancelotti is obsessed with regaining control of the midfield

Initially, despite the poor performance in the first leg, not many changes were expected in Real Madrid's starting lineup for the match against Arsenal, compared to the eleven players who started at the Emirates a week ago. At most, it was expected that Tchouaméni would return to the midfield to replace the suspended Camavinga… and a change at left back, considering Alaba’s experiment didn’t go as planned.

However, according to several media outlets from Spain in recent hours, such as ‘Relevo’ and ‘Diario AS’, Carlo Ancelotti is determined to regain control of the midfield, and to do so, he needs to move Fede Valverde away from the right-back position. While Lucas Vázquez is expected to be the natural replacement, Ancelotti doesn’t fully trust his performance either. As a result, he’s reportedly considering using Tchouaméni as a center-back and shifting Raúl Asencio to right-back.

Will Rodrygo start on the bench against Arsenal?

That’s not the only option being considered in Spain to help Real Madrid match Arsenal’s dominance in midfield. According to ‘MARCA’, for instance, there's a possibility that one of the three attackers could start the match on the bench to allow for a fourth midfielder—and if that happens, Rodrygo would be the one dropped. This is a strategy Real Madrid has used regularly since Ancelotti returned, and it’s worked well… although it hasn’t been seen much this season.

We'll still have to wait and see what Ancelotti’s plans are to try and mount a comeback against Arsenal. And while it’s tough for experimental lineups to succeed at this stage of the season, it’s clear that Real Madrid needs to change something compared to what they showed at the Emirates. The result, in any case, will ultimately judge Ancelotti’s decisions—whether they’re right or wrong—tonight.