Real Madrid will be looking to bounce back from their midweek humiliation at the hands of PSG when they travel to face Sevilla in La Liga on Sunday.
Zinedine Zidane has a lot of issues to address as Real Madrid travel to face Sevilla in La Liga. Los Blancos come into the game on the back of a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of PSG in France and are two points behind Sevilla, who were the table-toppers in the league heading into this weekend’s fixtures.
Zinedine Zidane was asked mainly about his own choices rather than the squad in the pre-match conference. One of the questions that stood out was whether the manager thought he made the wrong decision of returning to the club and Zidane had an equally strong answer.
Zidane said, “No, it would be easy to say that at a tough time. I decided to come back to work on a new project. We’re not in an easy place right now but I’m always going to keep trying. Winning appears to be easy for everyone. I look at what people say and it all looks very doom and gloom. When things get a bit tough, you’ve got to keep on fighting.”
Defence is one of the main areas of concern for Zidane heading into the game. The Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane pairing has not worked its magic till now while the midweek saw Eder Militao fail to impress in the loss to PSG. For now, we should see Ramos and Varane being retained by the manager as the centre-back pairing for Sunday.
Dani Carvajal should continue to start ahead of Alvaro Odriozola on the right. With Marcelo doubtful for the Sevilla game, we should see Ferland Mendy resume duties on the left, with Thibaut Courtois to continue as the first-choice in goal. The Belgian is still in search of his first clean sheet of the 2019-20 campaign in all competitions.
There aren’t many options in midfield, with Federico Valverde the only other midfielder to be included in the 19-man squad. Marcelo is another name that does not form part of the trip to Sevilla.
Luka Modric is sidelined while Isco is a doubt and unlikely to be included in the starting lineup either. This means the third spot in midfield is likely to go to Colombian international James Rodriguez, who has played well so far this season. James will partner Casemiro and Toni Kroos in midfield.
In attack, Karim Benzema’s early season form ensures his place as the leader upfront. Gareth Bale has been the saviour for Real a few times already this season, with Eden Hazard likely to complete the starting eleven against Sevilla.
Predicted Real Madrid Starting XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Mendy; James, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Benzema, Hazard
