Real Madrid: 3 things to look forward to against Espanyol

Marcelo putting on an attacking clinic

Since Real Madrid signed Ferland Mendy, Marcelo hasn’t been a regular starter for the club. And that’s a great thing, because Mendy has shown he is one of the best left backs in European football and capable of starring on a weekly basis. Mendy won’t be playing on Sunday, however, as he picked up a fifth yellow card against Mallorca.

So Marcelo will get his third start in five games since La Liga’s return. He scored in the first game back against Eibar, producing a passing masterclass while being active defensively with three tackles and two interceptions, per WhoScored.com.

Marcelo had a more subdued performance last Sunday against Real Sociedad, recording two tackles but nothing of note offensively with a pass completion percentage under 80 percent at the Anoeta Stadium.

But his matchup at the RCDE Stadium this coming Sunday looks a lot more favorable. Espanyol have a solid center back duo when everyone is healthy, but their fullbacks and wide defending leave a lot to be desired. Marcelo can cause plenty of problems to Espanyol’s defense, and the potential attacking trident of Vinicius Junior, Karim Benzema, and Eden Hazard would be the ones to reap the most rewards. Watching Marcelo and Hazard play together, in particular, is a whole lot of fun for Madridistas.