Deportivo Alaves vs Real Madrid, 2017 La Liga: Match Preview

With the international break coming to an end, it’s time for Real Madrid to return to league play this Sunday against mid-table side Alaves. With over half of Madrid’s squad participating in international duties, Zinedine Zidane may have to play a heavily rotated squad this weekend.

Prior to the international break, Madrid was coming off a 2-1 win Athletic Bilbao, which extended their win streak to four matches in a row and their unbeaten streak to six. After a slight hiccup in February, Los Blancos look to be back to their winning ways as they stand two points clear of Barcelona with a game in hand at the top of the La Liga standings.

With the season coming close to an end (eleven league games remaining), every point significantly counts. It has been a few years since Madrid has lifted the mighty La Liga trophy at the end of the season and 2017 could be the year they return to that glory. With these small matches against mid-table sides, Real should be collecting all three points. As Barcelona attempts to climb to the summit in Luis Enrique’s potential final season, it is a fact that the Catalan side will be chipping at the heels of Madrid until the end.

Alaves is heading into the match with over a week worth of rest as well as a two-match winning streak – three-game unbeaten streak. During this run, Alaves has claimed points from Sevilla, Real Sociedad, and Malaga. This is no easy task and Real Madrid knows that.

Sunday’s match should be interesting to say the least, but it should easily end in victory for Madrid.

PROJECTED STARTING XI:

Real Madrid: Navas; Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Carvajal, Nacho; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, Bale, Ronaldo; Benzema

Deportivo Alaves: Pacheco; Ely, Laguardia, Hernandez, Kiko; Garcia, Ibai, Romero, Camarasa; Deyverson, Llorente

Players to Watch: Edgar Mendez & Karim Benzema

How to watch

Available TV: BeIN Sports (USA), BeIN La Liga.

Available streaming: BeIN Sports Connect (USA), Fubo.TV (EVERY Real Madrid game with a high-quality and legal stream, click here to sign up and benefit from a huge offer for new members and Managing Madrid readers).

For listings in other countries, check out LiveSoccerTV.com.

Time and Location: Sunday, April 2^nd, 2017 at 4:15 EST/ Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid

Past Meeting: October 29^th, 2016: 4-1 win for Real Madrid

Top Goal Scorer (Goals (all comps)):

Real Madrid:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 19 (26)
2. Karim Benzema – 8 (16)
3. Alvaro Morata – 8 (13)

Deportivo Alaves:

1. Deyverson – 6 (6)
2. Edgar Mendez – 4 (8)
3. Victor Camarasa – 3 (3)

Table (Record: W-D-L):

Real Madrid: 1^st – 62pts (19-5-2)

Deportivo Alaves: 10^th – 40pts (10-8-8)