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Match Preview
Real Madrid are back in action on Saturday in La Liga when they make the trip to Valencia and take on Levante. Real are currently on a two-match win streak, having defeated Deportivo and Valencia in the past two weekends. Even though they’ve been trending much better, Real still sits in 4th on the table. With 38 points on the season, Los Blancos are now two points behind Valencia for 3rd and eight behind Atletico for 2nd.
Meanwhile, their opponents for Saturday sit 16th in La Liga with 19 points. They’ve lost their last two matches in La Liga and will be looking for 3 points badly.
Injuries
It feels liberating to finally say that the full squad will be available on Saturday. Part of this club’s main problem for Real has been the inability to put together their full squad for much of the season. Zidane has confirmed that both Sergio Ramos and Isco will be available for this match in some form.
The only remaining injury to the squad is Jesus Vallejo, but he wouldn’t have been in the starting squad for this match anyways.
Potential XIs
With all of their starters now available, Real now face the (good) problem of selecting their starting squad for this match. With this in mind, we’ll take a look at what Saturday’s squad might look like.
Real Madrid
Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Ronaldo, Benzema
The first notable change here of course is Sergio Ramos coming back to his spot, which means Nacho will be on the bench. I don’t see Zidane resting Ramos for this match, even though Nacho has played well, this’ll be his first match back from injury.
The other addition is Isco who missed last weekend’s match due to injury. With Bale and Benzema now both back, it’s going to be much harder for Isco to get into the starting squad. None of the BBC will sit for Isco which means the only spot would be Casemiro’s, but I think its unlikely Casemiro will sit either. Isco will come off of the bench and prove himself that way.
Levante
Oier; Coke, Cabaco, Moore, Luna; Doukoure, Lerma, Jason; Campana, Morales, Lopez
Levante is without their first team keeper due to injury. They are also missing their starting striker, Alex Alegria, because of injury. Chema, their main right back, is also out due to suspension.
Prediction
3-1 Real Madrid-Levante
Given that Real has been on such good form in La Liga lately and Levante has not, this should be a win for Real Madrid. Levante is missing a few of their key players and that will most certainly factor in during this match. Of course, Real cannot just assume this match is in the bag and must play a complete 90 minutes.
The BBC have played rather well together since being reunited, so it’s important that they continue to perform and contribute as well. Real have to continue collecting 3 full points and the 4-3-3 formation should provide the needed results yet again.
Valencia has a tough match against Atletico on Sunday, so this could be the perfect opportunity for Real to get out of 4th and move up a spot. Should Valencia lose and Real wins, Los Blancos will take the 3rd spot in the table. So, it’s important that Real shows up to play and gets the result they need to take Valencia’s spot should they lose on Sunday. An Atletico won’t be good for trying to get into 2nd, but at least Real moves up a place in La Liga and distances themselves from Villarreal and Sevilla.
This should be a good match and hopefully should be a good result for Real as they look to improve their win streak to 3 in a row.
HOW TO WATCH, STREAM LA LIGA
Date: 2/03/2018
Time: 20:45 CET, 02:45am EST, 11:45 am Pacific.
Venue: Ciudad de Valencia, Valencia, 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).