Real Madrid will entertain Barcelona at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Saturday evening as they look to secure a positive result at home.
Los Blancos could leapfrog the Catalans into the second spot in the league table if they can claim all three points at the Spanish capital this weekend. Zinedine Zidane’s men managed to beat Liverpool by a 3-1 scoreline in midweek which will keep them in high spirits going into this game.
The Madrid giants will set themselves up in a 4-3-3 formation and could be inclined to make one change to his first-team for this game. Rodrygo might get a start as Zidane looks to keep Marco Asensio fresh for the second leg showdown versus Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.
Thibaut Courtois will continue in goal for Los Blancos after shipping in one goal in his last appearance. Nacho will once again partner Eder Militao at the heart of the Madrid defence as they try to keep Barca’s Ousmane Dembele quiet throughout the 90 minutes.
Lucas Vazquez will keep his spot at right-back while Ferland Mendy looks to put on a good show on the other flank as the left-back. Zidane will ask his full-backs to pick and choose their moments to get forward so that they don’t leave any space behind for the Barcelona wide men to exploit out on the wide areas.
Raphael Varane could miss this game after testing positive for Covid-19 earlier this week.
Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric will make up the Real Madrid midfield once again following an excellent display from them collectively versus Jurgen Klopp’s men in midweek. The experienced trio will be responsible for dominating the midfield battle and orchestrating some clear-cut chances for their teammates in the final third.
Federico Valverde will have to settle for a spot on the bench as he waits for his chance to shine as a substitute if Zidane calls upon his services.
Vinicius Junior will feature as the left-sided winger after he produced a match-winning display by scoring two goals against Liverpool on Tuesday night. Rodrygo could come into the side to function as the right-sided wide player. Karim Benzema will continue to play as Zidane’s primary centre-forward as he looks to cause a few problems for the Barca centre-halves this weekend.
As mentioned earlier, Asensio could be named on the bench but could come on to influence the game in the final quarter of the game if needed.