Real Madrid: 5 players who must rise to the occasion at Cadiz

Football may be the last thing on the minds of some disappointed Real Madrid fans after their club president’s decision to create a European Super League. But the games will go on, contrary to initial speculation, and Los Blancos have an important match ahead of them at Cadiz, having lost to the newly-promoted La Liga side earlier this season, 1-0.

Real Madrid will be on upset alert this Wednesday night as well. Cadiz continue to outperform expectations, while Los Merengues are coming off a 0-0 draw to another Madrid-based side in Getafe. And like the away match at Getafe, Real will not have all of their stars available at the Estadio Ramon de Carranza.

Let’s take a look at five players who must rise to the occasion in light of these absences, using MARCA’s expected lineups as our guide.

RB Nacho Fernandez

We begin with Nacho, who is expected to start at right back. Dani Carvajal is ready to return, but he probably isn’t ready to play the full 90 minutes. We haven’t seen Nacho start at right back often this season, but he is probably a better option than Alvaro Odriozola, who was horrible in the second half against Getafe. Nacho is a lot slower, but he makes better decisions and is a significantly superior defender.

Nacho at right back isn’t an option Cadiz can exploit with pace either, so Real Madrid should be fine. But the question is, can Nacho provide an attacking outlet at right back? Or will we be headed for an asymmetrical formation or even a full-on back three?