Real Madrid make the trip to Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero on Matchday 16 of La Liga Santander to square off against Elche who are placed 16th in the points table. The Wednesday evening kick-off is the last match of the year 2020 for Los Blancos and Zidane’s side will be hoping to return home with all three points in the bag.
Real Madrid are expected to dominate and dictate terms against Jorge Almiron’s side. The Whites have won six consecutive games across all competitions and Elche will be on the receiving end of things on Wednesday. Real Madrid are placed on top of the points table alongside city rivals, Atletico Madrid.
Zidane will have the entire squad at his disposal with the lone exception being Brazilian winger, Rodrygo. Eden Hazard has started to train with the group and could play some role in this fixture. Here’s how Real could take to the field against Elche –
Defence
Thibaut Courtois will take command in goal for Real Madrid. The Belgian goalie has been amongst the standout performers this season and has delivered several match-winning performances for Real Madrid. Dani Carvajal will start at the right-back slot ahead of Alvaro Odriozola. The latter has struggled to leave any sort of impression on Zidane this season and has subsequently found it hard to get some minutes under his belt.
Raphael Varane will take command in the heart of Madrid’s defence alongside his partner in crime, Sergio Ramos. The two central defenders are one of the toughest pair to face as an attacker and Elche’s attackers will not have it easy at all. Marcelo could be handed out a rare place in the starting eleven after being replaced by Ferland Mendy as the first choice left-back in recent months. Zidane would consider resting Mendy against Elche who are not so imposing coming forward and this would be good news for Marcelo.
Midfield
An experienced and proven midfield trident in Toni Kroos, Casemiro, and Luka Modric, is expected to take to the field against Elche on Wednesday evening for Zinedine Zidane. Luka Modric has been in the form of his life and has shown absolutely no signs of age catching-up on him as he featured in eight consecutive fixtures for Real Madrid. Toni Kroos will be shouldering the responsibility of orchestrating the play from midfield, the area on the field where Zidane’s side are absolutely ruthless from. The importance of Casemiro to the team is well known, with the defensive cover he adds. Zidane will certainly be passing the least amount of instructions to this part of his side considering the amount of maturity they carry.
Attack
Lucas Vasquez will start out on the right-hand side. The Spanish winger has risen to prominence in the past month or so and cemented his place in the starting eleven ahead of the likes of Marco Asensio and Martin Odegaard. The number nine position will undoubtedly be occupied by Karim Benzema who has been in some splendid goal scoring form recently. Vinicius Jr will replace Rodrygo in the starting eleven who was stretchered off against Granada. Eden Hazard could be seen getting a few odd minutes off the substitutes bench later on in the tie.
Predicted Line-Up
