Real Madrid News
Official: Real Madrid starting lineup against Atletico Madrid
Games continue to come hard and fast in La Liga and today is a big one as Real Madrid get ready to host arch-rivals Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. They have a chance to cut the gap between Barcelona down to five with a win on derby day.
Thibaut Courtois starts in goal hoping to put the mistake against Liverpool behind him. With David Alaba injured, Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger get the nod to shield him in central defence.
Nacho provides width from the left in the absence of Ferland Mendy, but Daniel Carvajal has retained his spot on the right side of the back-four.
Elsewhere, we see Dani Ceballos get the nod in midfield ahead of Luka Modric. Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni have been rested as well, which means Toni Kroos will act as the sole pivot. Federico Valverde starts as the third midfielder.
Karim Benzema headlines the attack as the no. 9, while man of the match against Liverpool, Vinicius Jr is starting on the left-wing. Marco Asensio gets the path to start on the right with Rodrygo out injured.
Confirmed Madrid XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Nacho; Valverde, Kroos, Ceballos; Asensio, Benzema, Vinicius
It hasn’t been a good week for Real Madrid, who look all set to relinquish their Spanish league title to arch-rivals Barcelona come the end of the season, following a narrow defeat to the Blaugrana at the weekend.
However, as Real Madrid enter the international break, there is some positive news for Carlo Ancelotti and his men.
As reported by Toni Juanmarti, Barcelona look set to miss out on their two star players in Ousmane Dembele and Pedri due to injury, ahead of the upcoming second-leg semifinal tie against Real Madrid, in Copa Del Rey.
Real Madrid are heading into this game with a 1-0 defeat in the first-leg, meaning they must beat Barça with a two-goal margin in order to book a place in the final. The absence of both Pedri and Dembele, to that end, could be a major boost for Ancelotti.
Pedri, who was expected to return to full fitness for the second leg, has suffered a relapse. It has set his return back to three or four weeks late, meaning the youngster will not return until the April 23 tie against Atletico Madrid.
The situation is not much different for Ousmane Dembele. The explosive attacker is recovering slower than expected and though he was tipped to return in the league game against Real Madrid this month, he remains a major doubt for this Copa Del Rey tie.
However, Barcelona did register a narrow victory over Los Blancos even without these two individuals, so the task is definitely cut out for Ancelotti and his men as they look to exact revenge against the Catalans in Copa Del Rey next month.
