Real Madrid’s qualification to the Champions League knockout stages came at a heavy price when the Los Blancos saw their star forward Gareth Bale limping off the field in the 58th minute. They host Sporting Gijon next in La Liga and their recent heroics against Atletico Madrid makes them the firm favourites for the match.
Real are currently top of the League table, four points above Barcelona and they would like to capitalise on the lead as they face the Blaugrana next week in El Clasico and Sporting de Gijon looks like the perfect opponent to do that.
PREDICTED REAL MADRID XI VS SPORTING CP (4-3-3)
DEFENCE
Keylor Navas went to the Sporting Lisbon game high on confidence at the back of brilliant clean sheet at Vicente Calderon but could not repeat his success in the Champions League as Madrid conceded a penalty. He has been having a shaky in goal and two back to back clean sheets would have been a welcome occurrence.
Carvajal will be at right-back and will expect to spend most of his time in Sporting’s half. Marcelo will be at left-back and will be his usual uber-adventurous self. Sergio Ramos’ return from injury was a huge boost after Pepe is out with a hamstring injury. Sergio Ramos is likely to partner Varane. The French international scored a goal in the midweek and will be a threat in set-pieces.
MIDFIELD
In light of injuries to Kroos and Casemiro, there were question marks over Real’s midfield. But Isco, Kovacic, and Modric have stepped up admirably. Zidane once again opted to play Isco in the starting lineup leaving James Rodriguez out, contrary to everyone’s expectations. Hence we won’t think too optimistically for the Columbian and expect Isco, Modric, and Kovacic to keep their places.
ATTACK
With Benzema getting a goal, Ronaldo will have to stick to his favoured left flank although he remained completely silent against Sporting CP as he failed to get a single shot on target. The big news, however, is of Gareth Bale. Real Madrid are sweating over the fitness of Gareth Bale ahead of their showdown with arch-rivals Barcelona on December 3. Zidane stated that the extent of the injury is still unclear and the Wales international will have to race against time to be fit before the big match.
With Alvaro Morata out till December end, Zinedine Zidane is expected to deploy Marco Asensio in that position. The 20-year-old has already scored 6 goals for Real in 12 appearances this season.
