Matches
Militao, Bellingham start in a 4-4-2 – How Real Madrid can line up against Girona
Real Madrid will be gunning to get back to winning ways when they take on Girona later tonight at the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga.
The Merengues come into the game on the back of two consecutive 2-1 defeats – first against RCD Mallorca in La Liga and then against Bayern Munich in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
The loss to Mallorca already left Real Madrid seven points behind leaders Barcelona in the La Liga table. Another slip-up and they may well bid goodbye to the slim hopes of mounting a late push for the title.
So, from hereon, every game is pretty much a must-win for Alvaro Arbeloa & co. if they are to stay alive in the league title race. It will, however, be not easy for Los Blancos, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Girona in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
Ferland Mendy is back to full fitness and will return to the squad tonight which will come as a boost for Real Madrid. Meanwhile, Rodrygo and Thibaut Courtois remain unavailable through injuries.
Despite suggesting otherwise, Alvaro Arbeloa could make some rotations to the starting XI keeping an eye on next week’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich.
Here’s how the Real Madrid boss could set his team up against Michel’s men tonight at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Defence
With Thibaut Courtois still not available, Andriy Lunin will continue start in between the sticks for Real Madrid and will be hoping for a rare clean sheet.
At the heart of the defence, there will be one major change as Eder Militao is all set to start, as confirmed by manager Alvaro Arbeloa during his press conference on Thursday.
The fit-again Brazilian will replace Antonio Rudiger, who will be given a breather before the trip to Bavaria. As such, Dean Huijsen is once again expected to start as the second centre-back for Los Blancos ahead of Raul Asencio.
Meanwhile, captain Dani Carvajal, who is going through a difficult period at the club with his limited role, is expected to get a start tonight, with Trent Alexander-Arnold making way.
On the opposite side, Fran Garcia should get the nod ahead of Alvaro Carreras, who struggled against Bayern. Ferland Mendy is expected to come on sometime in the second half.
Midfield
Aurelien Tchouameni is a guaranteed starter in midfield for Real Madrid tonight, considering that he is suspended for the Bayern Munich clash.
Partnering the French international in the centre of the park should be compatriot Eduardo Camavinga, who will likely be the one chosen to replace Tchouameni next week at the Allianz Arena.
Jude Bellingham, having made three substitute appearances since returning from injury, is all set to start tonight. The Englishman is likely to take up the left flank in the four-man midfield setup, from where he will look to cut in and provide attacking support to the front two.
Federico Valverde, meanwhile, should continue on the right-hand side of the Real Madrid midfield. It means Arda Guler will be the one dropping out of the starting XI.
Attack
Given that there is little margin for error for Real Madrid in La Liga, Arbeloa is expected to go in with his marquee attacking partnership of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. at the top against Girona.
Brahim Diaz, Gonzalo Garcia, and Franco Mastantuono will all be options from the bench if the manager decides to change things up and rest his superstar duo later on in the game.
The derby weekend is here as Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are set to lock horns on Sunday afternoon at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
After an eventful transfer window and a stuttering start, Atletico Madrid reaffirmed their position as genuine title contenders and have done decently well so far this season.
With four wins, a draw and a defeat to their name, they sit on 13 points after six games.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, have only had one defeat and are on 15 points after as many games, only behind Barcelona who sit on a perfect record.
Diego Simeone’s men had a shaky start to the season, but have picked up steam in recent weeks with seven goals scored and none conceded in their last two games.
Given their strong record against Real Madrid at home, they will look to take all three points tomorrow.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid.
A test away from home
It is no secret that Real Madrid’s form on the road this season has been poor, not necessarily for the results themselves but how the team have conducted themselves in away grounds.
For the first time in years, there appears to be a sense of uncertainty around Los Blancos’ ability to produce results away from home.
For long periods in the game, they appear willing to hand over the momentum, and the resultant pressure has seen them collapse.
A last-gasp winner from Carlos Espi handed them the win against Espanyol away from home, and they went on to lose against Real Betis in their second away fixture of the season.
Most recently, they bottled a 2-0 lead against Elche and again required a stoppage-time winner from Espi to take the three points.
Tomorrow’s game, in that sense, is extremely challenging, for it is not only away from home but against an opposition of high quality.
Playing Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano is as challenging as games get, and Real Madrid have an extremely poor record at the venue.
Since 2017, Real Madrid have only won twice at the Metropolitano with three defeats and three draws. Last season, they suffered a 5-2 defeat and the game went on to break the team’s momentum.
Heading into such a tricky clash with an ongoing crisis away from home makes Sunday’s clash very complicated for the Merengues.
Arda Guler has to return
After a long time, Jose Mourinho took the Yan Diomande experiment to the next level and handed the player back-to-back starts for Real Madrid.
Clearly, the new signing still has a long way to go in terms of his adaptation, but he has been promising as an attacking outlet in his few appearances.
Diomande started both against Rayo Vallecano and Elche, but there is a strong case to drop him for the Madrid derby and play Arda Guler instead.
The Turkish international was on the bench against Rayo Vallecano and played as a No. 10 against Elche, with Jude Bellingham rested. Now, with the Englishman set to return, the manager has a decision to make.
Mourinho has made it clear that he wishes to ease Diomande into Real Madrid’s dynamics to reduce the pressure on his shoulders. Fielding him from the start in a derby would contradict that idea.
Beyond that, however, Guler has shown far more utility and promise as an attacking and creative outlet than Diomande, making the right-wing decision quite clear for the manager.
Real Madrid with and without Guler have been two completely different stories this season, and the team will require every last bit of creative inspiration that he has in him to get past Atletico Madrid tomorrow afternoon.
There is also a case for Brahim Diaz to be brought in, and the Moroccan star is also probably ahead of Diomande on the pecking order. Guler, however, stands out as a top option even ahead of Brahim.
Eyes on Vinicius Jr.
For years, Vinicius Jr. has always utilised the big stages to make his statements, for he has been a player to speak through performances and not words.
For instance, he scored a stunning solo goal last season against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup at a time when he was least expected to do so. At that point, he had not scored in 16 straight games, but the big moment called out to him.
It is clear that the Brazilian is not going through his best moment right now once again. The past few weeks have been hard on him, especially after he did well at the World Cup and returned to Madrid with higher expectations on him.
So far this season, Vinicius has only scored one goal in seven games. Beyond the goals, however, he has not looked like his usual threatening self on the flank and has not created half as many chances as he usually would.
Such is the player’s situation that his place in the team is being called into doubt for the first time in years. After all, Yan Diomande can play on the left and showed glimpses of his ability in the previous game.
All eyes, thus, will be on Vinicius on Sunday to see if he can step up to the occasion and make his presence felt when it really matters. He has always been one for the big stage, and tomorrow’s stage is the biggest yet this season.
