La Liga, Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid: Projected lineups

Yet again, Real Madrid face a must-win away game against Athletic Bilbao. Los Blancos cannot afford to drop any more points until the next Clásico (March 22nd) if they want to preserve their lead in the Liga BBVA table.

Athletic Club Projected XI: Iraizoz, De Marcos, Etxeita, Laporte, Balenziaga, Gurpegi, Rico, Susaeta, Beñat, Muniain, Aduriz.

Real Madrid Projected XI: Casillas, Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo, Kroos, Lucas Silva, Isco, Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema.

Ancelotti said during his pre-match press conference that he still has to make a decision about which one of his midfielders will start alongside Toni Kroos and Isco Alarcón. Lucas Silva, Illarramendi and Sami Khedira -- who is making his return from injury -- will all be fighting for one starting spot in San Mamés, with Silva probably having the edge after his decent run of games lately.

The rest of the lineup is quite easy to predict, as Ancelotti will able to make rotations on Tuesday's Champions League game against Schalke 04.