U. SÁNCHEZ-FLOR / J. A. JIMÉNEZ
Since José Mourinho arrived at Real Madrid, two number 9s, Gonzalo Higuaín and Karim Benzema, have traded places up front for Real Madrid.
The Argentine has been the main man on some occasions, while the Frenchman has been preferred on others.
Mourinho has usually rotated the pair, and has rarely played the two together.
However, the Portuguese manager is now in unchartered territory.
His two strikers have never been injured at the same time before.
It’s true that the ‘Special One’ has opted to leave out both before, but that was when Emmanuel Adebayor was at the club, having joined on loan in January 2011 after Higuaín picked up a long-term back injury.
On the six occasions when Higuaín and Benzema haven’t featured at all, Real Madrid has won four, drawn one and lost one.
These figures hardly suggest a dependence on the striking pair.
Indeed, Mou’s first trophy for the club came in a strikerless formation, as Cristiano Ronaldo led the line in the Spanish Cup final win over Barcelona.
Such a line-up also yielded a 4-1 drubbing of Real Sociedad in the league and the 1-0 victory over Atlético de Madrid in the cup quarter-final at the Calderón.
The only defeat with CR7 as the target man came in the semi-finals of the Champions League against Barcelona.
José Callejón could be the man to benefit from the absence of Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín tomorrow.
In any case, whoever deputises up front, it is clear that Mourinho does not need a number nine to deliver the whole 9 yards.
