Predicting Real Madrid's starting XI for the first match of the preseason

The wait is finally over! Real Madrid will face Bayern Munich in just a few hours in its first preseason match of the season. As the International Champions Cup kicks off, here is who I think will start for Zinedine Zidane today.

With 29 players traveling and training for a couple weeks in North America, there is no doubt that Zidane has plenty of choices when picking his starting squad. Thanks to there being no limit on the amount of substitutes per match, managers can play their entire bench if they so choose.

With few midfielders to choose from and some players coming off of a busy summer playing for their respective national teams, Zidane could be tempted to rotate his squad frequently through these first three matches in the United States.

Here is who I think will start tonight against Bayern Munich.

Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois

Courtois should get the nod to start the match off, but there should also be a Keylor Navas and Andriy Lunin sighting in Texas.

Zidane more than anything needs to decide who the backup to Thibaut will be, and there is no better time to test out a player’s worth than in the preseason. Courtois should play the first half, but don’t be surprised to see three different players in net for Los Blancos.

Defenders: Marcelo, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, and Dani Carvajal

Other than Marcelo, the other three featured prominently for their respective national teams in June. After a solid month off and a week’s worth of training under their belts, expect to see the usual starters get the match underway.

Sergio Ramos has been limited while in Montreal this past week, leading me to believe Nacho Fernandez could get the nod as the starter. Despite this slight doubt, I think Zizou will want to get Rafa Varane and the captain on the same page after a horrible campaign last time out.

Ferland Mendy should come in just after halftime to make his debut for the club while two Castilla players, De la Fuente and Javi Hernández, should get their chance to impress Zidane in the final stages of the match.

Midfielders: Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Isco

These are the obvious choices for Real Madrid since they only have five out and out midfielders on the tour of the United States. With Dani Ceballos and Casemiro recovering from international duty over the summer, Seoane and Fidalgo should get plenty of opportunities to feature against some quality opponents.

Zinedine Zidane could elect to play Marco Asensio in the midfield if he so chooses or just to experiment.

It should be very interesting to see if this midfield can work well together because there are so many questions to consider here.

Who will act as the CDM? Will there even be a defensive-minded midfielder? Will Isco or Asensio play as the CAM? Where does Takefusa Kubo factor in?

The midfield holds the most questions for Los Blancos this campaign, including whether or not James Rodriguez or Fede Valverde will have a spot in the squad. We will get a good idea as to what this trio looks like, but won’t know more until the squad returns to Spain.

Forwards: Vinícius Júnior, Karim Benzema, and Eden Hazard

Another experiment to keep an eye on is Vinicius playing on the right side instead of the left. The young Brazilian is not going to start over Eden Hazard on the left, so he must adapt to a new role in order to succeed.

Next. Zinedine Zidane excited to kick off the new season after testy press conference. dark

Zidane has been trying out some new things in the training sessions thus far, and one of the big ones has been play Vini on the right. With Lucas Vazquez and Gareth Bale also looking to show they deserve consideration, the battle should be intense.

The match kicks off at 7 p.m. local and 2 a.m. in Spain.

Stay tuned to The Real Champs for more Real Madrid coverage!

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Predicting Real Madrid’s starting XI for the first match of the preseason

By Ben Sundock | Jul 20, 2019