Real Madrid Predicted XI vs. Valencia: Gareth Bale in another big game

Here’s who Real Madrid could start against Valencia.

Real Madrid have returned to play with a 3-1 win against Eibar on Sunday but have “10 more finals” left in La Liga, as Zinedine Zidane and Sergio Ramos put it more than once. Next up, they take on a strong Valencia side who find themselves in seventh place after a 1-1 draw with Levante in their last outing.

Goalkeeper:

Real Madrid will definitely go with Thibaut Courtois for this match. He did quite well in his return game against Eibar but will want to build on that, particularly when it comes to his distribution. The Belgian goalkeeper has reached incredible heights with the club after a very questionable start to the season and has proven that he earned the starting spot.

Defenders:

Real Madrid are suffering when it comes to their right-back position as we saw during the second half of the game on Sunday but it seems like Dani Carvajal will recover in time to take his place in the team after being taken off with a slight injury at half time.

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In the center, Raphael Varane will take his place after consistently proving himself as our best central defender so far this season while our captain Sergio Ramos will be lining up next to the Frenchman.

Against Eibar, we saw Marcelo start as left-back but this time around, Ferland Mendy will be the better option as we need more focus at the back against Valencia.

This isn’t to say that we need to be defensive as Mendy is quite strong when going forward as well but he’s a more solid defender than his Brazilian teammate.

Midfielders:

Just like the team is suffering at the right-back role, the same can be said when it comes to our defensive midfielders as Carlos Casemiro is the only natural player that we have in that position.

However, he has proven to be one of the best there and he will be needed against Valencia.

In front of him, we’ll be seeing Toni Kroos who had a brilliant game on Sunday alongside Federico Valverde who came on as a late substitute for Luka Modric, who is expected to be rested after a great outing against Eibar.

Forwards:

Zidane’s front-three choice on Sunday night proved that it’s always a difficult task to predict who will be chosen and it will be even more so when it comes to such a packed schedule. All signs point to Eden Hazard starting once again after being rested for the majority of the second half on Sunday. The Belgian forward was in very good form after playing his first match since his injury in January and will want to build on that.

On the right side, we may actually see Gareth Bale be given an opportunity after Rodrygo started the last match. Bale came on as a substitute and failed to impress but may be given a chance due to his ability to perform in “bigger” games. The other option could be Marco Asensio but it isn’t likely after his return from a long-term injury.

The last of the three choices will be Karim Benzema. There is no replacement for the Frenchman at the moment with Mariano Diaz and Luka Jovic both injured. However, even if both players were fit, it’s difficult to bench Benzema when he’s on form which he was earlier this week. He wasn’t able to get his name on the score sheet but he was integral in all the dangerous moves that Real Madrid had whenever going forward.

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Full Predicted Lineup:

Thibaut Courtois, Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Ferland Mendy, Carlos Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Federico Valverde, Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema

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