Valladolid Vs Real Madrid: The Starting 11

The upcoming match is against Valladolid away from home in the La liga match day 21. This is the return leg, the first match was a 1-1 draw at Santiago Bernabeu. There has been remarkable improvement since then for Real Madrid and they are currently 2nd in the league standings and Valladolid are 15th in the league standings. Real have same points with Barcelona and for sure Madrid is not going to take any risks this time.

Looking at the 

Injury list:

1. Asensio
2. Hazard
3. Bale

Both Asensio and Hazard  have been injured for a long time now. And have not been practicing with the team. We hope their recovery is faster and soon they start playing with the team. Bale picked up injury in the ankle during the Copa del Rey match.

Suspended:

1. Carvajal (5 🟨)

Just recovered:

1. Ramos

As per ZZ Bale and James were not ready to join the squad last week but both played the Copa del Rey game and are now ready.

Practiced:

Asensio and Hazard continue their recovery processes. Others are practicing with the team.

Skipped Practice:

None

Coach Comments:

• Nothing specific

Other Comments:

• This is a crucial game before the Madrid Derby, several players will return and Carvajal will not be available with no direct right back option to replace him.

Squad Updates:

This is a crucial game for the La liga title race.

In the goal Courtois will start after the rest during mid-week game, having got several good games in the past, things look definitely very positive for Courtois and Real Madrid.

Ramos is now available and should start now, as Marcelo had returned from injury but was not very convincing in the last game and caused an error leading to the goal. So Mendy should be favored ahead of Marcelo. As Odriozola has been loaned and Carvajal is not available Militao should play as a right back. So Mendy, Ramos, Varane and Militao will start. Defence has been in good form and is expected to prevent the occasional errors those have led to the goals in the past games.

All the five super mid-fielders are doing great, Modric, Kroos, Valverde, Isco and Casemiro. It is a very difficult decision for ZZ. Taking the past game's rigor and current fitness level into considerations it is going to be Modric, Casemiro and Kroos in the middle. Valverde and James will be on the bench and Isco should start in the attack.

As Hazard and Asensio have been injured and the attacking needs to be in order after several injuries, Benzema, Rodrygo and Isco should start. And Vinicius, Jovic and Lucas Vazquez should be on the bench. 

So the formation would be 4 3 3, with Isco and Rodrygo on the flanks and switching during the game.

So the final starting 11 will be: