Real Madrid Vs Eibar: The Starting 11

Before going into the next match I will rate the performance of players in the last game vs Real Betis.

1. Benzema: 3/10, Very poor game, even with a goal scored from penalty his rating is at 3 speaks a lot about his game, with any other coach he would not even make the squad, his performance was that bad. His wrong and sloppy pass led to the goal and the defeat. 
2. Vinicius: 7/10, Was not great but seemed like creating chances and working hard to provide some options. Though his usual hunger was missing to be fair, he could do much better.
3. Lucas Vazquez: 4/10, Very poor performance, tried so many crosses not even a single good one, fullbacks will cross better than him. He should have been taken off at half time but ZZ played him full 90 mins. 
4. Kroos: 5/10, Seemed the one to orchestrate the game but was not able to create chances and was off in his passing as well. Gave away balls in wrong positions and too many times. 
5. Casemiro: 6/10, What a downgrade from last game, seemed like his desire to control the ball was not there, was off position so many times and was unable to sync well with the non existent attack or the defence. Too many ball losses for his role, though tried to improve with going forward but not a great game.
6. Modric: 8/10, Good game but not enough to prevent the goals  maintained the tempo and controlled well but there was no support in the final third. Did very well clearing a ball off the goal line.
7. Marcelo: 6/10, Did okay but did not put the effort, till he was on the pitch prevented few easy chances. Seemed totally lacking inspiration like most of the players. 
8. Ramos: 5/10, Always caught off guard and in wrong positions, lacked the winning mentality and the desire. Awful clearance leading to the first goal.
9. Varane: 7/10, Was solid and prevented several chances, but lacked support from right. Apart from that did very well defensively.
10. Militao: 5/10, defensively not so good in the first half, could have done much more with support up front, chemistry missing going forward. No real crosses. In the 2nd half went from okay to bad.
11. Courtois: 8/10, Overall good performance, first goal was a wonder strike little could be done but in the 2nd goal should have covered better but not his fault at all.
12. Valverde: 7/10, Did his bit after the substitution, didn't let the tempo fall and maintained the high work rate. 
13. Mariano: 6/10, He had less time to impact the game he tried to score though missed few difficult ones..
14. Mendy: 7/10, Came in the 2nd half but was good in his position and even hit the woodwork. Showed the work rate for which everyone admires him. Should have started the game.
15. ZZ: 4/10, Bad starting line up, no chemistry among the players, lack of desire to win. From okay game kept getting worse, really bad substitutions except for Mendy. No point keeping Benzema in the mid-field or Lucas Vazquez playing the whole game. He has taken the blame and rightly so.

La Liga Title Prediction: CLICK HERE

The upcoming match is against Eibar at home in the La liga match day 28. Eibar are 16th on the leader-board and Real are 2nd and 2 points behind Barcelona on the league table. This game is one of the most important game to have any chance in the league, Madrid can not take any risks at all and have to win at any cost if they want to remain in contention, more so with football coming back after a break.

Real Madrid had won 0-4 away at Eibar with two penalties in the first leg.

Looking at the 

Injury list:

1. Nacho
2. Jovic

Suspended:

1. None

Just recovered:

1. Asensio
2. Bale
3. Hazard

Practiced:

Bale had some issues but is now back for full training with the team.

Skipped Practice:

• None

Coach Comments:

• He takes the blame for the shock loss against Real Betis, which has caused worry to the title challenge. Now ready for the 11 finals. 

Other Comments:

• Now we depend on Barcelona to drop points, they have more difficult games but them have been winning by 1 goal margin, so we will have to wait and watch.
• This home game is going to be behind closed doors for the first time.

Squad Updates:

This is a crucial game for the league title as with 2 points gap it is still under sight, it can not get wider if we need to wait for Barcelona's mistakes.

In the goal Courtois will start, should be a no-brainer.

Ramos and Varane will start as the center backs. Mendy will start on the left and will provide better defensive option and Carvajal will start on the right. So Mendy, Ramos, Varane and Carvajal should start. Defence has to be particularly alert, there has been occasional lapses and as play is resuming after 2.5 months, it will be a test for them.

All the mid-fielders are available but all are not dependable on most days, too much problem in consistency. It is a very difficult decision for ZZ to pick the three. There has been lack of any consistency in the last few games but looking at the next game, it is going to be Modric, Casemiro and Valverde in the middle. Kroos, Isco and James will be on the bench.

As Asensio and Hazard have returned in prime shape, all are available now. So it should also be a tough decision. Ideally it should be HBA, Hazard, Benzema and Asensio. And Bale, Vinicius and Rodrygo should be on the bench.

As now 5 substitutions are available, this is a great time to rotate the squad for ZZ.

The probable substitutions will be: 

Asensio > Bale

Hazard > Vinicius

Mendy > Marcelo

Modric > Kroos

Valverde > Isco

Benzema > Rodrygo

Ramos > Militao

So the formation would be 4 3 3.

So the final starting 11 will be: