Napoli have a daunting task ahead when they will face Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League round of 16-second stage at the Stadio San Paolo on Tuesday. Madrid are carrying a healthy lead of 3-1 from the first leg but Napoli have the advantage of an away goal which could be crucial and a 2-0 win would be enough for them to seal a quarter-final berth.
Zinedine Zidane opted to field two vastly different line-ups in the last two matches to give some rest to his frontline players. Only Sergio Ramos and Keylor Navas were a part of both the matches. Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Toni Kroos, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale didn’t play in the 4-1 win over Eibar while Casemiro, Luka Modric, Pepe, and Karim Benzema got a much-needed breather against Las Palmas. So all the players will be fresh and Los Blancos will be trying to score an early goal to put pressure on the home side.
On the other hand, Napoli will be coming off a 2-1 win over AS Roma in the Serie A and much will depend upon Dries Mertens who scored a brace in the last match. The Belgian has been in excellent form this season having found the net 22 times this season and the Madrid defence needs to be very cautious about him as any room given to the player could be dangerous for them.
Predicted 4-3-3 Real Madrid lineup To Get Past Napoli
Defence
The Real Madrid keeper will once again have the task to thwart the opposition attack consisting of the likes of Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens. Navas has been fairly consistent in the Madrid goal and Zidane will once again rely on the keeper.
Marcelo and Dani Carvajal will start respectively on the left and right side of the defence. Both the full-backs love to overlap and it would be an intriguing problem for the Italian club.
Sergio Ramos and Pepe will start as the centre-back pairing in front of Madrid custodian Navas. Ramos is known for his late goals and Zidane would be craving for something similar if the situation demands.
Midfield
Casemiro will take up the anchor role and alongside will be Toni Kroos and Luka Modric further upfront in the midfield.
Attack
Cristiano Ronaldo will start on his preferable left flank while Gareth Bale is expected to start on the right side. Karim Benzema will lead the line for the defending European champions.
Ronaldo-Benzema-Bale
Modric-Casemiro-Kroos
Marcelo-Pepe-Ramos-Carvajal
NAVAS
