Real Madrid welcome Victor Sanchez’ Real Betis to the Bernabeu as they look to regain their place at the top of the Liga Liga.
According to the official matchday squad released by Real Madrid, Pepe is the only new absentee from an otherwise fully fit squad. Gareth Bale will miss this tie as he is serving his 2 match suspension after being sent off against Valencia 2 weeks ago.
Defenders Raphael Varane and Fabio Coentrao have been sidelined due to to injury, while everyone else is fit and available. Cristiano Ronaldo returns to the squad after being left out against Eibar and it is likely to start against the visitors tonight.
Nacho Fernandez is expected to line up in the center of defence alongside Sergio Ramos, while Danilo is also in line to start at right-back in place of Dani Carvajal, after playing the full 90 minutes in their 1-4 victory against Eibar.
Alvaro Morata missed out in Los Blancos’ victory against SD Eibar and featured only 13 minutes in their Champions League tie against Napoli. He makes the squad despite picking up a slight knock in training, as revealed by Zinedine Zidane in his pre-match press conference.
“He’s going to be in the squad. It’s a knock but there’s no problem, he’ll be with us,” Zidane said. The Spaniard will likely start, given that he has a fresher pair of legs than Karim Benzema. He will likely be joined on the right flank by Lucas Vazquez, who will likely be filling in for Gareth Bale.
Isco and James Rodriguez are both in line to start tonight after not being named in the starting XI against Napoli. Both of their immediate futures have been subject to a lot of speculation and the duo have constantly been linked with a move to other European heavyweights in the summer.
Zidane however, refused to say whether the duo would stay or leave, when asked about them. “I’m not going to discuss next year, I’m only interested in this season,” he said. “They’re compatible, they’re two good footballers and they can play together.”
