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Rafael Benítez has decided to start Casemiro, Kovacic and Isco in the midfield against a Malmö team looking forward to end their season with a good result at the Bernabéu.
Real Madrid Starting XI: Casilla; Arbeloa, Pepe, Nacho, Danilo; Isco, Casemiro, Kovacic, James; Benzema and Ronaldo
Benítez leaves Modric and Kroos on the bench ahead of Real's difficult away match against Villarreal next weekend. Marcelo stays on the bench too even though he seems ready to go, while Benzema will try to keep his good momentum going after scoring a brace against Getafe last Saturday.
Players like Jesé or Vázquez surely wanted to start this one and probably deserved a place in the lineup for such a meaningless game, but Benítez keeps giving Ronaldo minutes even though he could probably take some minutes off in order to be fresh for the tougher and more important games that Real Madrid will have to play in the upcoming weeks.