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Match Preview
Real Madrid are back in action this Tuesday with a match in Catalonia against Espanyol. Real are currently 3rd in La Liga, ahead 3 points now of Valencia. They also sit 7 behind Atletico, who are still holding on tightly to their position in 2nd.
Meanwhile, Espanyol sit 15th in the league table with 28 points on the season. They are actually tied with Alaves, who Real defeated on Saturday 4-0.
Real have been in great form lately and will be looking to continue their prolific scoring when they face Espanyol.
Injuries
No real changes to the injury list for Real since this past week. Jesus Vallejo is still out with a muscle injury.
Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Marcelo are all still out with injury and may not return until the PSG match on the 6th.
Marco Asensio will return to the squad on Tuesday, though. He did not feature against Alaves because of a wisdom tooth removal.
Potential XIs
Real Madrid
Casilla; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Theo; Vasquez, Casemiro, Kovacic, Asensio; Ronaldo, Benzema
Zidane could go with several combinations against Espanyol. Because this is a mid-week match, he may want to rest some starters and give some of the rotation players a start instead. Navas could be rested in favor of Kiko Casilla, who would be starting against his former side.
While I have Ramos and Varane paired, Varane could be rested in favor of Nacho. Theo Hernandez will get the start again in Marcelo’s place.
The midfield should look rather similar to what was featured against Alaves on Saturday. The only change here would be the addition of Marco Asensio, who would also be starting against a former club. Asensio would start in place of Gareth Bale, who Zidane may desire to rest just to keep him healthy, though the BBC have played rather well since being reunited.
If Bale does indeed sit, that means Benzema and Ronaldo will be paired up top.
Espanyol
Diego Lopez; Martin, David Lopez, Duarte, Sanchez; Piatti, Carlos Sanchez, Darder, Granero; Baptistao, Moreno
Prediction
4-0 Real Madrid-Espanyol
While this may be a rather optimistic prediction, Real certainly have the scoresheets as of late to back this prediction up. Given that Alaves is tied with Espanyol in points and Real just defeated them 4-0, I’ll give the same outcome to Tuesday’s match. Of course, all that really matters is that they continue winning.
Real have been on a considerably great run as of late, winning their last 6 La Liga matches in a row. All the while also putting up 3 or more goals in all of these wins. Much of this success can be attributed to one Cristiano Ronaldo.
While the BBC has played really well together, Ronaldo especially has stood out. He’s been in fantastic form and has increased his goal tally rather significantly in the past month or so. Considering the rough season he had prior to this current run, it’s safe to say he is indeed back on top of his game.
While they shouldn’t write Espanyol off, this should be yet another match Real can obtain all 3 points rather easily. And, perhaps, start to close the gap on 2nd.
HOW TO WATCH, STREAM LA LIGA
Date: 2/27/2018
Time: 20:00 CET, 02:00pm EST, 11:00am Pacific.
Venue: Cornella-El Prat, Barcelona, Spain.
Available TV: BeIN Sports (USA), BeIN La Liga (Spain).
Available Streaming: BeIN Sports (USA),Fubo.TV (EVERY Real Madrid game with a high-quality and legal stream, click here to sign up and benefit from a winter discount for new members and Managing Madrid readers).