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Real Madrid face Manchester United in what will be the first official match of the season for both sides. These two teams met during their pre-season stage in the United States and Real lost in the penalty shoot-out, although this time both coaches will think only about the win and not about the fitness of their players.
Coach Zinedine Zidane said during the pre-match press conference that Cristiano Ronaldo will be available to play even though he started training with the squad last Saturday. Zidane isn’t probably thinking about giving the Portuguese star minutes just yet but that adds mystery to whatever game plan he is designing.
The same happens with defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic, although it looks like Jose Mourinho will indeed give him a chance to feature in the starting lineup. It will be extremely important por Real Madrid to control the tempo of the game and that means that they need to keep Matic busy.
Predicted lineups and team news:
Real Madrid: Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Modrić, Casemiro, Kroos; Isco, Benzema, Bale.
Doubtful: Ronaldo (lack of training)
Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Lindelöf, Smalling, Blind; Herrera, Matić, Pogba; Rashford, Lukaku, Mkhitaryan.
Out: Bailly, Jones (both suspended), Rojo (knee), Shaw (foot), Young (hamstring), Fosu-Mensah (impending loan move)
Prediction: Real Madrid 2 (Bale, Asensio) - 0 Manchester United
How to watch Real Madrid vs Manchester United
Date: 08/08/2017
Time: 20:45 CET, 02:45pm EST, 11:45am Pacific.
Venue: Filipo II, Skopje, Macedonia.
Available TV: FOX Sports 1 (USA), BT Sports 2 (UK), Antena 3 (Spain).
Available LIVE on stream: FOX (USA), Fubo.TV (EVERY Real Madrid game with a high-quality and legal stream, click here to sign up and benefit from a summer discount for new members and Managing Madrid readers).