This Sunday, Real Madrid should pick up another convincing victory in La Liga vs. Celta Vigo. Here is the predicted XI for Los Blancos.
Real Madrid take on Celta Vigo in La Liga after having the rare opportunity to have a week since their last match as Zinedine Zidane gave all the players two days off so that they can rest and freshen up. Now they are back in business and will be taking on 17th placed Celta Vigo.
With another week separating Zidane’s men from this game and their next La Liga match, it will be interesting to see how they line up on the night. It’s also important that they have a tough schedule coming up as they take on Levante (22nd) before going against Manchester City (26th) in the UEFA Champions League and then against Barcelona (Mar. 1) in the league.
Real Madrid played against Celta Vigo earlier in the season as it was the first league match for the two sides during this campaign. Los Merengues came out victorious on that day as they beat the hosts 1-3 thanks to goals from Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Lucas Vazquez.
Predicted Starting Lineup:
Goalkeeper:
After recently winning the award for best La Liga player in January, Thibaut Courtois will be the starting goalkeeper on Sunday night. The Belgian has consistently reached incredible heights and has shown that he deserves to play for the club and more importantly, he deserves the trust of the fans.
More from The Real Champs
- The Xabi Factor: What Alonso could bring to Real Madrid as manager
- Manchester City hold talks over Real Madrid target
- Real Madrid player confirms he is playing with a fracture
- Real Madrid superstar rejected Premier League clubs confirmed
- Spaniard ready to join Real Madrid instead of Liverpool
Defenders:
There is no need to look into resting any players and therefore it’s expected that Zidane will be going with his most trusted back four. Dani Carvajal will start as the right-back while Raphael Varane will partner with Sergio Ramos in the center as we look forward to continue seeing the rise of Ferland Mendy on the left.
Having these four players at the back has helped create history for the club and they will need to continue showing that they’re capable of keeping up their performances for the full season as the team fight for La Liga, which is their number one priority this season.
Midfielders:
Picking the midfielders for each match is where most of the headaches come from for Zidane. However, it would be safe to assume that our defensive midfielder on the night will be Carlos Casemiro who has consistently shown just how integral he is to the team while in front of him will be Toni Kroos.
The person partnering Kroos in midfield will most probably be Luka Modric as Zidane will keep Federico Valverde until the upcoming week where Real Madrid will almost definitely need the Uruguayan for the games against Manchester City and Barcelona.
Forwards:
The one name on everyone’s mind is Eden Hazard, and it seems as though he will finally play but probably not as a starter. The Belgian will be introduced back on the pitch slowly as it’s clear how cautious the coaching staff is when it comes to his return from a very tricky injury. However, they also want him fit for the big upcoming games.
On the left as a starter will probably be Vinicius Junior. Even though it looks like Isco is the more preferred option for Zidane, the Spaniard will possibly wait until the rotations are required soon.
Meanwhile on the right, I doubt that Gareth Bale will get another chance to start and therefore it’s practically a coin toss between Lucas Vazquez and Rodrygo Goes, who I think could beat Lucas in a coin toss. Up front, will we see a shocking start for Luka Jovic? It’s hard but you never know. However, the safe option will be to predict Karim Benzema as the striker for the night.