Real Madrid News
Real Madrid duo in line to start for Brazil in World Cup RO16 tie against South Korea
Having earned a spot in the FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16, Brazil will fight to progress to the next round when they take on South Korea later tonight.
And, according to Globo, Real Madrid duo Vinicius Jr and Eder Militao are in line to start for Brazil when they lock horns with the Asian giants.
The Selecao come into the game on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in their final group-stage match. Tite had fielded a much-changed side for that contest and is set to recall most of his regulars to the lineup against South Korea.
Vinicius, for one, was not part of the starting XI against Cameroon while he did not come off the bench during that game either. But the forward is set to reclaim his berth on the left flank for Brazil against South Korea.
Vinicius has been in good nick and had a hand in both of Brazil’s wins in the tournament so far. So, his return to the lineup will be a boost for the South American giants against South Korea.
As for Militao, the defender started as a centre-back in the previous match but is expected to return to the right-back position, where he featured against Switzerland when he faces South Korea.
However, there is unlikely to be a place in the lineup for Vinicius and Militao’s Real Madrid teammate Rodrygo Goes with Neymar expected to be back in the side having recovered from his injury.
Should Brazil prevail tonight, they will go on to face one of Croatia or Japan in the quarter-finals, meaning the Real Madrid trio of Rodrygo, Vinicius and Militao could come up against teammate Luka Modric.
In what could be a real deal breaker for Real Madrid ahead of their Copa del Rey semi-final second leg clash against Barcelona, it has been revealed that as many as three Barça will be absent from the game while another key player remains a major doubt.
The list includes the likes of Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Andreas Christensen. The trio is certain to miss the game through respective injuries while a certain Frenkie de Jong is more or less ruled out, as per Javi Miguel.
It must be remembered that Barcelona are heading into the second leg with a 1-0 advantage. But the absence of the aforementioned players means Madrid can work on exploiting the frailties.
Despite the absence of such big names, Barcelona did pretty well against Elche in their previous outing, coming out 4-0 victorious, with the goals coming from Robert Lewandowski, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.
With options lacking in midfield, Xavi decided to use the likes of Sergi Roberto and Eric Garcia along with Gavi in the heart of the lineup. In any way, they do have Sergio Busquets and Franck Kessie as backups if needed.
The defence, on the other hand, was perfectly guarded by Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso, Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde.
One can expect Xavi to once again interchange Araujo with Kounde on the right since the Uruguayan has been rather successful in minimizing the threat of Vinicius Jr.
As far as Madrid are concerned, they are sweating over the fitness of three key defenders, namely, Antonio Rudiger, Nacho, and Ferland Mendy. Between these three, the Frenchman is out for about a month while Rudiger and Nacho are expected to be back before the Clasico.
If there are no casualties against Real Valladolid, Madrid will have a perfect midfield and attack, with only Mariano Diaz missing.
