Real Madrid are having a terrific season and other than the untimely exit in the Copa Del Rey, things are going to plan for Los Blancos. They gained a huge 1st advantage over Napoli as they won the match with a comfortable scoreline of 3-1. And although Napoli did get an away goal, Real’s 3rd goal sees them in a very comfortable position to progress. To add to the joy, their arch-rivals, Barcelona were decimated 4-0 by PSG which has effectively ended their participation in the competition which means a Champions League regular getting knocked out at such an early stage hence making things slightly simpler in the forthcoming rounds of matches.
In the La Liga, they are comfortably placed. While the points column shows them just 1 point ahead of Barcelona, the 2 matches in hand are a huge bonus and both are extremely winnable games which will likely fetch 6 points. Real need to slip up big time if they are to lose any ground to the Nou Camp outfit and the rest of the chasing pack.
They will be facing Espanyol next and while the 9th placed team are no pushovers, with Real having almost their full team at their disposal, it shouldn’t be too hard to overcome them. And in a wicked twist of events, Barcelona fans might be secretly hoping for Espanyol for a change!
PREDICTED REAL MADRID XI VS ESPANYOL (4-3-3)
DEFENCE
Keylor Navas will be in goal and he has to step up his displays as another part-mistake saw him concede a goal with horrible positioning. Carvajal will be at right-back with Danilo injured. In central defence, Varane is a sure-shot starter while Ramos is also expected to start after been taken off in the midweek match as a slight precaution. Pepe might have to settle for a bench role again. Marcelo will be left-back and look to be his super adventurous self.
MIDFIELD
Casemiro will be buoyed by a wonderfully struck goal and will look to orchestrate play from the deep areas. He has been good for them and has slowly settled in again after his comeback from injury. Kroos also got on the score-sheet with a vintage goal and will be sitting in a slightly advanced midfield role alongside Luka Modric.
ATTACK
Ronaldo is likely to start on the left flank with Vasquez likely to replace Rodriguez on the opposite flank. Benzema will again lead the line after a fine headed goal in the last game, which will give him a lot of confidence.
