Real Madrid take on Sevilla in the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday. Here’s what you can expect ahead of Madrid’s crucial La Liga fixture.
The Bernabéu should be rocking on Saturday as Real Madrid host Sevilla in a fixture that Madrid absolutely must win to keep the pressure on FC Barcelona in the race for the La Liga title. Cristiano Ronaldo returns from France the conquering hero, having just won his fifth ever career Ballon d’Or.
The Dark Invader comes into the match in fine footballing form as well, having just put on a display against Borussia Dortmund midweek in the Champions League. Ronaldo’s been going through a bit of a dry patch when it comes to goalscoring in La Liga, and he’ll be hoping to add a few to his tally against Sevilla.
The team from the south of Spain is a tricky outfit, currently sitting fifth in the La Liga table, tied with Real on points at 28, but behind on goal difference. They are currently without their head manager, Eduardo Berizzo, who is battling prostate cancer. His assistant manager, Ernesto Marucci, will captain the ship on Saturday, as reported by Goal.com.
Zinedine Zidane is going to be forced to play a weakened lineup against one of La Liga’s stronger teams. As The Real Champs’ Ben Sundock reports, Casemiro, Carvajal, and Sergio Ramos will all miss this game through suspension. Raphael Varane is on the injured list, as well as Gareth Bale.
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It will be interesting to see how Zidane shuffles his deck. The key question is who replaces Dani Carvajal in the right-back position. He’s got plenty of options. Nacho is perhaps the best right-back option available, but Nacho is likely going to have to take over the center-back position. So we could see the young Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, who got an extended spell of minutes when Dani Carvajal was MIA due to his heart condition.
However, if Zidane feels like going a bit more avant-garde with his squad selection, he has two experimental options available to him. First, he could throw Lucas Vazquez on as right-back, with Nacho and Vallejo in the center. We got to see a bit of that during Madrid’s clash with Dortmund, when Asensio came on for the injured Varane, and Vazquez slotted into Nacho’s former spot.
Second, Zidane could throw Llorente on as a center-back, and give Nacho the spot at right-back. While Llorente typically plays as a defensive midfielder, he’s been used out of position before as a centre-back. That would let the more experienced right-back have the spot in the form of Nacho, but would be a huge ask for Llorente who hasn’t seen many minutes this season.
Either way, Sevilla is going to be a big test for Madrid’s makeshift defensive unit. If Vallejo imposes himself on this match, he could prove worthy of a starting position in the near future.
Next: All of Real Madrid's missing players against Sevilla