Injury Update and predicted XI ahead of Real Madrid vs Sevilla

Real Madrid face off against Sevilla in a must-win La Liga match, but they’ll have to do so with a number of players on the injury roster. Alex McVey is here with your injury updates and a predicted starting XI.

Real Madrid will be on the hunt for three points against Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday. However, they will have to do it without their full squad. A number of players are injured, and won’t be able to compete.

Dani Carvajal was pulled out of the first leg against Atletico Madrid due to a hamstring injury. While he is not expected to be back for any of the La Liga matches, Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has stated that the medical staff is working to try to get Carvajal back in time for the Champions League final in Cardiff.

The same goes for Gareth Bale, who limped out of El Clásico with an injury to his calf. Bale was spotted doing some recovery in the swimming pool, lifting weights in a low resistance environment in an attempt to ready himself for the final in his home country of Wales.

Neither Bale nor Carvajal will be available on Sunday against Sevilla.

Another player who has been on Madrid’s injury list of late is Pepe, who broke two ribs in a collision with Toni Kroos. It was widely believed that Pepe would miss the remainder of the season.

However, Pepe made a speedier recovery than previously thought, and has been training with the group in an attempt to get fit for the end of the La Liga campaign. Unfortunately, while Pepe has managed to complete a few training sessions, AS reports that he will not be in action against Sevilla on Sunday.

If, as seems to be the case, Pepe will no longer be playing at Madrid next season, that means he has likely already played his last competitive minutes as a Real Madrid player at the Bernabéu.

Another question mark hanging over Zidane’s squad has been the fitness of Raphael Varane. Varane has been dealing with a niggling issue that has seen him sporadically miss games and practices. The same AS report indicates that although Varane missed Friday’s training due to Muscle pain, he was back in training on Saturday and ready to compete.

That gives Zidane some options for his starting lineup against Sevilla. Specifically, it would allow him the flexibility to play Nacho at right-back instead of the inconsistent Danilo.

Nacho was subbed on in the right-back spot when Carvajal went down against Atleti in the first leg, but Danilo was trusted in that spot for the second leg.

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I expect Zidane to roll out the closest thing he has to a Gala eleven, with Isco deputizing for Bale and Nacho in the place of Carvajal. We’ll probably see some variation on a 4-4-2 with Ronaldo and Benzema leading the attack.

Predicted Starting XI:

GK: Keylor Navas

DEF: Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Nacho

MID: Casemiro, Kroos, Modrić, Isco

ATT: Ronaldo, Benzema