Match Preview

Real Madrid will face off in Champions League action for the first time under interim manager Santiago Solari. The last time they faced Plzen was just 3 weeks ago when they were still managed by Lopetegui, the last win he would manage to get for the club. They were able to defeat Plzen by a 2-1 result.

Real have been doing a bit better since losing in El Clásico where they’ve won their last two matches, one in the Copa del Rey and one in LaLiga. They have traveled to the Doosan Arena in the Czech Republic ahead of Wednesday’s match.

Needless to say, this is a match Real should win even being on the road. The key point to watch in Wednesday’s match is how Solari manages his first Champions League match during his interim tenure with the club.

Injuries/Suspensions

Real Madrid still have a lengthy injury list in-hand with Vallejo, Carvajal, Marcelo, Varane and Mariano still out of action and not included in the released squad for Wednesday.

Plzen will have a full squad.

Neither side have suspensions for this match.

Potential XIs

Real Madrid

Navas; Odriozola, Nacho, Ramos, Reguilón; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Asensio, Benzema

This would be identical to what Real fielded against Valladolid over the weekend, with the exception of Navas who will likely still start in net during Champions League matches. We will hopefully not see the Vazquez experiment at right back as we did in the last match against Plzen.

Should this lineup field yet again, this time against Plzen, we will likely see Isco at some point and perhaps even Vinicius again, who is included in the squad. The final substitution would then have to be decided between Vazquez, Ceballos, Valverde and Llorente.

Plzen

Hruska; Reznik, Hejda, Hubnik, Limbersky; Prochazka, Hrosovsky; Havel, Cermak, Petrzela; Krmencik

Prediction

Real Madrid-Viktoria Plzen 3-1

Real Madrid will have to bring their A-game on Wednesday to secure a win against Plzen. In a group that traditionally shouldn’t be hard to get out of for Real, but it’s a bit more questionable with how they’ve played this season and losing to CSKA.

Despite their shortcomings, Real still maintain first in Group G. Though they are tied at 6 points with Roma, Real are in first because they hold the head-to-head match. Nevertheless, Real must take action and get the win against Viktoria in their home city of Plzen and under a new manager.

This would be a good match for the attacking trio to step up and start contributing in the way of goals. Asensio, Benzema, and Bale have all been fairly quiet lately on the scoresheet. Solari will surely want that for any, preferably all, of them and will certainly want a win in his first Champions League match under his managerial tenure.

Real are the favorites for this match, they can’t afford to allow an upset. These are the types of teams they must beat, no matter what competition it’s in. They need to keep the, albeit brief, win train rolling and ensure they maintain a lead in Group G. Time to bring ‘dos cajones’ to the Czech Republic.