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Osasuna Vs. Real Madrid CF, La Liga 2012 Open Thread: Granero, Alonso In Midfield; Di Maria, Kaka Benched

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It's crunch time, MM. Real Madrid take on a very, very complicated Osasuna side in the Reyno de Navarra this evening (20:00 CET, 2:00 PM EST). It's about an hour before kickoff and we finally have some news coming from Mourinho's camp: Esteban Granero and Xabi Alonso will form the midfield pivot in a 4-2-3-1, with Raúl Albiol anchoring the center of the defense next to Sergio Ramos. Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín will start together again, only a few days after having limited success against APOEL in the UEFA Champions League; this means that Kaká has been left on the bench, with Angel Di Maria, just in case Mourinho needs a late scoring punch (which seems likely, to this biased observer).

This is our forum to discuss the game, so please be nice. And fun. And respectful. You know, the normal stuff. This is a big game for our guys, and we need to pull together to support them as best we can. HALA MADRID! And bring on this crazy, crazy month of April!

Real Madrid XI: Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Mesut Özil, Esteban Granero, Marcelo, Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa, Raúl Albiol and Gonzalo Higuaín

Osasuna XI: Andrés Fernández; Roversio, Miguel Flaño, Sergio, Damiá; Puñal, Nekounam; Raoul Loe, Cejudo, Raúl García; Nino

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