Real Madrid will travel to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan this weekend to take on Sevilla in LaLiga. There will be no reprieve for the Merengues after their grueling second leg Champions League match against Chelsea on Tuesday night, as they nearly collapsed at the Bernabeu against an intense, tactically-perfect side. But in the end, Real’s Champions League “DNA” carried them through, with two late goals saving the draw.
Sevilla will not be underestimated. Julen Lopetegui’s side have always played Madrid tough since the former Merengue manager took over the Andalusian club.
Let’s take a look at how the Real Madrid lineup could look on Sunday night at the Sanchez Pizjuan, keeping in mind that Casemiro will be suspended after picking up his 10th yellow card of the season in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Getafe.
GK Thibaut Courtois
Obviously Thibaut Courtois is going to start. He’ll be on his toes against Rafa Mir, who is always a threat, whether playing for Huesca or, now, Sevilla.
LB David Alaba
Ferland Mendy will not be able to play after pushing through an injury against Chelsea and aggravating the issue. He had already come into the season less than 100 percent, and so Mendy has constantly been battling aggravations in order to play. Despite his flaws offensively, he will be missed and would have been very important against the threat of Lucas Ocampos.
Since nobody else can be trusted against Ocampos, David Alaba must move back to his old position at left back. On the same side as another aggressive defender in Nacho Fernandez, Alaba cannot sacrifice his defensive duties for his joy in contributing to the attack.
CB Nacho Fernandez
Nacho Fernandez did not have the best of games defensively against Chelsea, as he and David Alaba do not always fit together since they both like stepping up to make challenges. But Nacho has been important to Real, including in 2020/21 when he produced colossal big-game performances, especially as a passer, with Sergio Ramos out. Nacho, who has been known to love games against Sevilla. Who can forget THAT free kick goal?
CB Eder Militao
No matter how you spin it, Eder Militao was missed on Tuesday night in the Champions League. The 24-year-old center back has been a legitimate star player for Los Blancos in the 2021/22 season, building on a great close to the 2020/21 campaign in which he outplayed Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane. Now, Militao is playing at an even higher level than those two currently are in the year 2022. Militao will be in for a physical battle with Mir.
RB Dani Carvajal
It’s anyone’s guess as to how Dani Carvajal will play in any given half – much less match. Carvajal should do well on Sunday night against Papu Gomez, who is a great player in his own right but is not the paciest. Nowadays, Carvajal tends to struggle against the speedsters. Against the other players, he is just fine at right back.