Real Madrid: 5 players who must shine in a huge match against Villarreal

Real Madrid have a massive match against Villarreal on Saturday at the Estadio de la Ceramica. They will need these five players to shine.

Coming out of the November international break, Real Madrid have a lot of questions to address. They lost 4-1 to the worst Valencia side in years in their last game before the break, and they could be facing several key absences on Saturday at Villarreal due to both injury and positive COVID-19 tests.

Villarreal look like title contenders in La Liga through their first nine matches of the season. They are in second place behind Real Sociedad and have some of the league’s best players, including Real Madrid loanee Takefusa Kubo.

But Los Blancos can still win this match if these five players take center stage at the Estadio de la Ceramica on Saturday afternoon.

DM Casemiro

Casemiro missed the last game against Valencia after testing positive for COVID-19, but he’s had a recent negative test and will suit up against Villarreal this Saturday.

He is a crucial player for Real Madrid in any match, but he’s become especially important to Los Merengues now. Casemiro was in poor form before the break, putting together a truly shocking performance in the 3-2 win over Inter Milan.

We know Case is capable of much better than that. He was one of the best overall players in La Liga last season, firmly establishing himself as the world’s best defensive midfielder. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen that kind of class from him this season, and perhaps the usage in 2019-2020 has caught up to him.

Real Madrid need him to shake all that off and have a vintage performance at the Estadio de la Ceramica. A lot is counting on him, because Fede Valverde is injured and Real will be going up against a midfield with seasoned La Liga standouts Dani Parejo and Vicente Iborra. This game is important for Casemiro and Los Blancos.