Real Madrid will be making the trip to the Balaídos Stadium on Matchday 28 of La Liga Santander to square off against Celta Vigo. Los Blancos registered an emphatic 3-1 victory against Atalanta midweek in the UEFA Champions League. Real Madrid needs to seal the three points up for grabs on Saturday evening in order to maintain the pressure on Atletico Madrid and Barcelona at the top of the table.
Real Madrid’s injury situation has improved significantly since the start of March but the Whites faced their 45th injury setback of the season when Eden Hazard got ruled out for an additional 4-6 weeks. The player barely got a run of 15 minutes after a prolonged spell on the sidelines. Zidane will also be without the services of Dani Carvajal, Mariano Diaz, and Alvaro Odriozola.
Zidane is expected to revert to the 4-3-3 formation following the return of Sergio Ramos and Casemiro. Celta are positioned 10th in the points table and are capable of causing the Whites some sort of damage at this point in the title race. Here’s how Real Madrid could take to the field on Saturday evening :-
Real Madrid Predicted Line-Up Against Celta Vigo
Defence
Thibaut Courtois will take command in goal and will be aiming to add to his clean-sheet collection for the season after being unsuccessful in his last four attempts. Lucas Vasquez will start at the right-back position with Dani Carvajal yet to recover from his muscle injury. Raphael Varane will once again pair-up with Sergio Ramos in the heart of Madrid’s defence. The return of Sergio Ramos from injury has certainly helped Madrid in many ways who look much stronger at the back. Ferland Mendy will retain his place in the starting eleven after an impressive display against Atalanta.
Midfield
Luka Modric was exceptional against Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League and will undoubtedly start against Celta. Modric will want to have more of the ball at his feet in advanced areas of the pitch, something that could have serious implications for the hosts this Saturday. Casemiro will bulldoze his way into the starting eleven after missing out in midweek due to suspension. Toni Kroos too will hold his position in the team after absolutely dominating proceedings in Real’s last outing. Federico Valverde and Isco Alarcon will make up the numbers on the bench for Zinedine Zidane.
Attack
Marco Asensio will make his return to the starting eleven after an impactful 10 minutes or so against Atalanta. The substitute came off the bench and immediately got himself on the score-sheet. Asensio will also need to drop and help out Lucas Vasquez in defence on the right-hand side. Karim Benzema has been racking up the goals for Real Madrid in recent fixtures and nothing different will be expected out of the number nine on Saturday as well. The Frenchman is the side’s top goalscorer with 15 goals to his credit. Vinicius Jr is in thunderous form and his place in the starting eleven will be certainly reserved. Rodrygo could feature in the match off the substitute bench.
Real Madrid Predicted Line-Up Against Celta Vigo
