Real Madrid: Casemiro will be suspended against Athletic Bilbao
Real Madrid defensive midfielder Casemiro was on four yellow cards heading into El Clasico, and he picked up his fifth during the game after fouling star Barcelona striker Luis Suarez.
Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid knew they would need Casemiro at full strength against FC Barcelona on Wednesday for El Clasico, so they rested the Brazilian midfielder on Matchday 17 against Valencia. Real drew 1-1 to Valencia at the Mestalla without Casemiro, who went into El Clasico as the starting holding midfielder with four yellow cards.
To nobody’s surprise, Casemiro did end up picking up a second yellow card at around the 66th minute mark after fouling Barcelona star striker Luis Suarez. Casemiro tackled Suarez from behind to disrupt the play, and he was consistently used as the muscle in midfield for Real, fouling opposition players when necessary to stop La Blaugrana from getting into a rhythm. But this time, his foul deserved a booking.
The fifth yellow card means Casemiro will be suspended for one game. Real Madrid will face Athletic Bilbao, who are currently in seventh place, next. The match between Los Blancos and Bilbao will take place on Sunday night at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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Not having Casemiro against Bilbao will be a tough blow for Los Blancos, but Zinedine Zidane can play Fede Valverde in that role and use Toni Kroos a little bit deeper like against Valencia. Bilbao aren’t an easy team to face, but even without Casemiro, Los Blancos should still be expected to grab all three points, especially at home.
It was crucial for Casemiro to play against Barcelona, though, so at least his fifth yellow occurred during the Clasico, He has been one of the best defensive midfielders in the world this season – if not THE best – and he is right there with Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos as one of Real Madrid’s most important players in 2019-2020.