Match Preview

Real Madrid look to increase their league lead on the road against Granada on Monday. Barcelona trail by only a point again, but hold a match in-hand. Real will be even on matches played after Monday.

This is the second meeting of the season between Los Blancos and the newly-promoted Granada. The first match saw a 4-2 win for Real at home in which Eden Hazard also scored his first LaLiga goal.

Granada have impressed in their first season back in the Primera División. They are currently 10th, but only one point trailing behind 7th. A win for them would be huge by putting them tied on points with Getafe for 6th. Real may also see former defender Jesús Vallejo.

Real Madrid will be looking to remain perfect and will have to do it on the road. So far they have truly been treating every match since the restart like a final.

Injuries/Suspensions

Nacho and Marcelo both remain out for this match. Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal are back in the traveling squad after serving suspension against Alavés. Luka Jovic remains out of the lineup after quarantine protocol. Mariano is also not included in the squad.

Granada will likely be without Maxime Gonalons, Quini, Neyder Lozano and Alex Martinez. Winger Alvaro Vadillo is questionable.

There are no suspensions for either club for this match.

Potential XIs

Granada

Silva; Diaz, Sánchez, Duarte, Neva; Eteki, Herrera; Machís, Antoñin, Puertas; Soldado

Real Madrid

Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Asensio, Hazard, Benzema

Carvajal and Ramos will likely slot right back in after serving their suspensions.

Hazard featured off the bench against Alavés. Given some time now after his training injury, it’s quite possible Zidane gives him the start on the road. We may see Asensio get another start this time on the right side after Rodrygo started there on Friday.

Prediction

Granada—Real Madrid 1-3

This will be a sneakily tough match for Real Madrid on the road. Granada have been quite good this season as mentioned. They’re 3-2-3 since the restart and will be trying hard to get close to the top six.

Getting Carvajal and Ramos back for this match is a big boost. Ramos has been scorching hot since the restart and is making a strong case for their most valuable player alongside Karim Benzema.

Real will have to fight hard for these three points if they hope to extend their lead. It’s becoming crunch time as there’s only two matches left in Real’s LaLiga campaign for the league title. Going back up four points on Monday would be huge as both Real and Barcelona play individual matches on Thursday.

This is a big match, as pretty much all of the restart matches have been so far. The results will have huge implications going into this next week and Real will have to once again put forth a finals-worthy performance in Andalusia.