Real Madrid: Who should start in defense with Ferland Mendy, Sergio Ramos out?

Real Madrid will enter La Liga’s Matchday 35 without any member of their starting defense available from the beginning of the season. Dani Carvajal is already out for the season, and Raphael Varane had already been fully expected to miss this weekend’s match against Sevilla with an injury he suffered last weekend vs. Osasuna. 

And now, Los Blancos will be without Ferland Mendy and Sergio Ramos. Both men returned from multi-week injuries on Wednesday night against Chelsea in the Champions League, but Mendy is suffering from a muscular overload. Meanwhile, Ramos isn’t ready for Sevilla as he pushed himself too hard to play against Chelsea. As we all saw, he was not 100 percent in that game. Not even close.

Now that Real Madrid have officially announced their squad for Sevilla without Ramos and Mendy, it’s time to take a stab at who will start in the back line.

We’ll likely see a return to the back four. The only two guaranteed starters are Eder Militao and Nacho Fernandez, who have been standouts this season. Militao is on an incredible run of form and will start as one of the center backs. Nacho, meanwhile, could conceivably start in the middle or on the right, depending on if Zinedine Zidane trusts Alvaro Odriozola or Victor Chust more. Given that Chust has never played a team of Sevilla’s caliber, we may even see Fede Valverde on the right over Odriozola.

Marcelo vs. Miguel Gutierrez is a debate worth having for Real Madrid vs. Sevilla at left back

On the left side, there are two options. Marcelo or Miguel Gutierrez. Honestly, I can’t see Gutierrez being any worse than Marcelo, as the Brazilian has been downright awful as a left back this season. He even struggled against Getafe, though the center backs and Thibaut Courtois saved his blushes in a 0-0 draw.

I expect Zidane to still go with his “old guard” man in Marcelo, even if I do worry that is a mistake. Gutierrez is very promising, and I’d like to see him start even against Sevilla. But Zidane may see it differently and not want to throw Gutierrez into the fire like that.

So Marcelo, Nacho, Militao, and Valverde looks like the expected back line against Julen Lopetegui’s side at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Valverde has the athletic ability to hang with Lucas Ocampos. Marcelo could be a liability against Suso and Jesus Navas, but as long as he gets help, Real can weather the storm. One of the keys will be the wingers helping out defensively, and that’s especially true if Marcelo starts on the left.