Zinedine Zidane’s men make a short road trip to the outskirts of Madrid to face Leganes for a late Monday evening kick-off. Leganes are placed in the bottom half of the points table, and it is expected to be a relatively easy fixture for Los Blancos.
Leganes are going through a poor run of form and have won only two of their last five fixtures. It will be interesting to see the approach Mauricio Pellegrino’s men take when they face off against the reigning European Champions, Real Madrid.
Real Madrid are out of contention for the La Liga title race and would be looking to at least pip their noisy neighbours, Atletico Madrid to the second position on the points table. The Whites trail Diego Simeone’s side by two points.
Zinedine Zidane would be without the services of Davi Carvajal, Vinicius Junior and Thibaut Courtois. The trio has been missing since Real Madrid’s defeat to Ajax in the Champions League. Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos and Nacho Fernandez are all facing the risk of a suspension having amassed four yellow cards each.
Here’s how Real Madrid could lineup in their match against Leganes at the Estadio Municipal de Butarque.
Defence
Keylor Navas would be guarding the Madrid goal as Thibaut Courtois remains injured. The Costa Rican has performed exceptionally well in the absence of the first choice goalie. Summer recruit, Odriozola would be starting at the right back position as Dani Carvajal is nursing a torn muscle bundle.
Raphael Varane would be starting in the centre of the Madrid defence alongside club captain, Sergio Ramos. The latter would have to be careful on the evening as he has a habit of picking up cards and that’s something he cannot do on the evening if he wants to play Madrid’s next encounter against Athletic Bilbao. Marcelo would be making a return from suspension and starting ahead of Sergi Reguilon who had become a first choice left-back under Santiago Solari.
Midfield
Casemiro would be starting in midfield in a position that he has made his own over the years. To his either side would be Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. The trio has been sub-par this season as a whole and will need to get things in place ahead of the start of the next season.
Isco Alarcon is expected to start in the CAM role just ahead of this midfield pivot. The former Malaga man missed a large chunk of the season due to injury, and his absence was duly felt and noted. However, since his return, things have been far better for Real Madrid.
Attack
Karim Benzema who has been in the form of his life lately and he would be leading the Real Madrid attack. The Frenchman would have Gareth Bale for company up-front. The Welsh striker needs to show some sort of enthusiasm and zeal for the Los Blancos shirt if he wants to prolong his stay at the Spanish capital.
Starting Eleven
Navas
Odriozola – Varane – Ramos – Marcelo
Modric – Casemiro – Kroos
Isco
Bale – Benzema
