After inflicting a brutal attack over Real Betis Saturday night, Zidane’s men will host Polish giants Legia Warszawa in their third match of UEFA Champions League group stage on Tuesday, October 18th.
A pretty comfortable win is being predicted by many after Real Madrid’s stellar performance over the weekend, despite having key players like Sergio Ramos, Casemiro and Luka Modric and James Rodriguez out owing to injuries. Madrid are currently 2nd in the La Liga standings.
Their work seems further easier as Legia Warszawa would be coming to Bernabeu after a disappointing 3-2 loss against Pogoń. The crowd expects to see a lot of Marcelo-Ronaldo down the left flank as they viewed at the weekend. Unlike the La Liga, Madrid has quite positively opened their Champions League campaign this season with 4 points in the first two games. They currently sit second in the table with points leveled with Borussia Dortmund.
Real Madrid would still be without the trio of Casemiro, Luka Modric and James Rodriguez again as they stay sidelined due to their injuries. Sergio Ramos is out till November as a result of a knee sprain. The good news, however, is the return of Marcelo and that too with a goal against Real Betis.
Defence
With Marcelo returning to the first team and making an immediate impact, Zidane’s defensive woes are somewhat sorted though they will sorely miss Ramos. Saturday’s disciplined defending against Betis with Varane, yet another defender, adding to the score sheet has now given an assuring backline to Zidane. The only exclusion would be Pepe’s disastrous back pass that led to the sole goal for Betis.
Midfield
A star midfield consisting of the trio of Kovačić, Kroos and Isco had caused trouble in the Betis half whole evening on Saturday. In fact, it was Kroos’ mouthwatering pass into the penalty area that opened the score sheet for Madrid in the early minutes of the first half. Isco and Kovačić spearheaded the attacking midfield leaving Kroos ample time to plan the drop throughout the match. Isco’s two goals would further give him the confidence to reign supreme against Legia.
Attack
The trio of Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, look too heavy a canon for the likes of Legia. Ronaldo missing a couple of clear cut opportunities might be a cause of little worry for the striker but as far the scoring is concerned, it kept flowing pretty smooth. Benzema bagged one too with brilliant finesse.
