Antonio Blanco is in line to make his debut while Marcelo will return to the side when Real Madrid take on Getafe on Tuesday.
Real Madrid will be looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since the turn of the year when they play hosts to Getafe at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium on Tuesday night. And, Zinedine Zidane is down to his bare-bones with regard to his squad, with as many as nine first-team players unavailable.
Eder Militao, Alvaro Odriozola and Toni Kroos are the latest players to be sidelined with injuries, with the defensive trio joining the likes of Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal, Federico Valverde, Eden Hazard, Lucas Vazquez and Rodrygo Goes in the lengthy list of absentees. That essentially means that Zidane will have very little to choose from for when Getafe pay Real Madrid a visit.
Sergio Ramos has recently undergone a surgery on his troublesome knee and in his pre-match press conference, Zidane provided an update on the Real Madrid captain, saying, “Sergio was at the limit. There was a risk, it was complicated and I think it went perfectly. We want to get Sergio back as soon as possible and all the players. The operation went well, it was an important decision.”
In addition, the Real Madrid boss also spoke about the other absentees, saying, “Isco trained normally this morning, his first training session. Militão and Odriozola are out and then we’ll see about the others. We’ll see how things go with Lucas Vázquez and Carvajal but they won’t be available tomorrow.”
With Carvajal, Odriozola, Lucas Vazquez and Eder Militao all unavailable in addition to Ramos, the Real Madrid backline pretty much picks itself. Ferland Mendy should, therefore, be deployed as a makeshift right-back, with Marcelo coming in on the left flank. Nacho and Raphael Varane will pair up at the heart of the defence once again, while in goal, Thibaut Courtois is an automatic selection.
Up ahead in midfield, Antonio Blanco is set to make his debut, owing to the absence of Kroos and the fact that Isco has not trained much lately. The 20-year-old should feature in the three-man unit along with Luka Modric and Casemiro, with Isco being an option off the bench.
Finally, in attack, Zidane has just four senior players to choose from, with Mariano Diaz the likeliest to be excluded. Therefore, Karim Benzema will lead the line for Real Madrid against Getafe, with Vinicius Jr. and Marco Asensio once again flanking him. Marvin Park and Sergio Arribas will be the backup options for Zidane as well.
Real Madrid Predicted XI: Courtois; Mendy, Varane, Nacho, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Blanco; Asensio, Benzema, Vinicius Jr.