La Liga Monday, Round 17: Real Madrid Enter Life Without Gonzalo Higuain, Can Karim Benzema Step Up?

It appeared that Atletico Madrid were back in the track towards securing a top four spot before they went into the winter break, but their 0-0 draw at the Vicente Calderon against Racing Santander could easily be categorized as a slip up and two very important points dropped. They created a great flurry of activity at the end, challenging the Racing goal in some moments of desperation, but nothing came of it and they walked away with only one point.

According to Opta Sports, Atletico Madrid have won only one of their last nine La Liga matches when Diego Forlan did not play. That was the case tonight, as he was stuck watching in the stands along with new signing Elias, who has not been with the club long enough to be expected to contribute. As a result of their absence, the midfield and attack of Atletico Madrid was lackluster, and they created very little.

Some interesting tactical battles might emerge as the match between Getafe and Real Madrid goes on, but to start, it appears that both teams will be lining up in fairly identical 4-2-3-1 formations. Of course, the presence of a player like Cristiano Ronaldo means Getafe will never have a truly “identical” setup, but they have at least made an effort to match Los Merengues, trotting out their usual setup.

Getafe’s formation could conceivably be a 4-4-2, as Miku has played as a forward before and is listed as a forward on numerous websites, but I think it’s much more likely that Getafe will stick with their regular setup and deploy him out on the wing. However, Gavilan and Rios are both wide players more often than not, so who knows? It could be a 4-4-2 diamond setup with Boateng at the base and Parejo at the tip. For now, though, I’m guessing that we’ll see Gavilan in the middle.

If Real Madrid are going to chase down Barcelona for the La Liga title, they are going to have to do it without their best striker, Gonzalo Higuain. His season appears to be over due to an injury that should put him out of action for around six months. As a result, Karim Benzema should start tonight.

A fixture of the French national team and the title winning sides of Olympique Lyon, Benzema’s move to Los Merengues was a high profile one. He was expected to be the great out and out striker Real were lacking. A true No. 9. The new Ronaldo. Instead, his finishing and tactical awareness have seemed suspect at best in most of his time on the pitch, despite his occasional flashes of brilliance.