Greetings! Welcome to your official Managing Madrid UEFA Champions League Matchday Open Thread.

Jose Mourinho's pre-match press conference was chock-full of selection clues and interesting commentary. Here's an excerpt to get us in the mood:

"There won't be many changes in the line-up...The only one who played in Pamplona and isn't on the list is (Alvaro) Arbeloa. The rest have been called up to play. Pepe is here with me (at the press conference) because he will play"

The Mister also commented on the status and progress of Angel Di Maria, saying:

"Di Maria's injury is complicated...He's been training at full pace for 10 days, but that's not the same as playing matches. He benefited from the 10 minutes he played in Pamplona and he will play more tomorrow, but not the entire game. He is very important to the team and we've missed him despite earning positive results"

The entire article linked above is worth a read, so please check it out.

Lineups according to Reuters (via the Guardian)

Real Madrid: Casillas, Ramos, Varane, Pepe, Marcelo, Altintop, Sahin, Granero, Ronaldo, Kaka and Higuain

That's a very interesting line-up. Excited to see what they can do.

Hala Madrid!