Real Madrid News
Real Madrid veteran set to start against Shakhtar Donetsk after injury return – report
According to MARCA, veteran midfielder Luka Modric is all set to start for Real Madrid when they take on Shakhtar Donetsk at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night.
Real Madrid will be hoping to bounce back to winning ways after dropping points against Osasuna over the weekend. The Merengues were held to a 1-1 draw by the La Liga club on Sunday, with Karim Benzema’s penalty miss proving costly.
At the same time, Real Madrid lacked the quality and vision of Modric in the middle of the park on the night. The Croatian was not involved in the game as he had returned with an injury from the international break.
However, the niggle was a minor one and the 37-year-old has mounted a quick recovery, with Carlo Ancelotti naming him in the squad for tomorrow’s clash against Shakhtar.
When quizzed about the possibility of the veteran star featuring from the start, the Italian tactician had not given much away in his response during his press conference.
However, now, MARCA is claiming that Modric will be playing against the Ukrainian giants from the kickoff itself, even though previous reports had indicated that Ancelotti would be careful with his star midfielder as the first El Clasico of the season is only a couple of weeks away.
It is claimed that Los Blancos want to seal progression to the Round of 16 in the Champions League by winning the next to matches against Shakhtar. Hence, a crucial player like Modric is set to start on Wednesday, despite recovering from the injury only recently.
Along with Modric, Real Madrid also welcomed Lucas Vazquez back into the squad, but the Spaniard is unlikely to start tomorrow, considering Dani Carvajal is the undisputed first-choice right-back for Ancelotti.
At the same time, though, Los Blancos have a couple of casualties as Thibaut Courtois is yet to recover from his issue while Dani Ceballos has picked up a fresh injury, ruling the duo out of the game against Shakhtar.
Real Madrid News
Rayo Vallecano manager names the one Real Madrid figure he would remove from the team
Rayo Vallecano face a daunting trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on a wounded Real Madrid this weekend.
Life after Inigo Perez has not been kind to the Vallecas-based club, who have already had to travel to Camp Nou and now face a trip to the home of their city giants.
Speaking ahead of the game (h/t Madrid Xtra), Rayo Vallecano manager Benat San Jose was asked which Real Madrid player he would like to remove from the team before this weekend’s game.
Surprisingly, his choice was not Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior or Thibaut Courtois.
“Mourinho”
Asked which Madrid player he would take out of the upcoming contest, Benat jokingly chose the man sitting on the opposition bench.
“Which Real Madrid player I’d remove from the match against them? Mourinho,” Benat said with a laugh.
The answer might have been delivered jokingly, but the Rayo coach immediately made clear just how highly he rates the Portuguese manager.
“He’s one of the best managers in history,” he added.
It is significant praise ahead of Saturday’s meeting at the Bernabeu.
Madrid’s squad contains enough individual quality to give any opposition coach several obvious answers, but Benat instead highlighted the influence Mourinho can have over the entire team.
That has become particularly relevant since the Portuguese coach returned to Madrid. His early work has focused on making a talented group function with greater collective discipline.
Courtois and Madrid’s attack also praised
Benat did not stop with the manager.
“They also have one of the best GKs in history and one of the best attackers in history,” he said.
Benat will definitely have seen how Thibaut Courtois played against Inter Milan in midweek and will hope that version does not turn up again this weekend.
Even when teams manage to create opportunities against Madrid, they still have to beat one of the defining goalkeepers of his generation.
At the opposite end, Madrid possess attacking quality capable of turning a match on its head.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham can all decide matches single-handedly.
Madrid have a point to prove
Madrid are coming off a disappointing loss to Real Betis in La Liga last weekend and will come into this game with a point to prove.
They will want to ensure that the loss to the Andalusian club was a one-off and that they return to winning ways against Rayo.
Their title rivals, Barça, have been flying high in the league, scoring goals and picking opponents apart for fun.
Madrid need to ensure that they do not hand too much early incentive to Barça, and it remains to be seen how Los Blancos fare against Rayo Vallecano.
