Federico Valverde and Eder Militao will return to the starting lineup when Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk face off on Tuesday.
Real Madrid will hope to remain firmly atop the UEFA Champions League Group F when they welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night. And Carlo Ancelotti has greeted a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Thibaut Courtois remains unavailable for Real Madrid due to a back injury. The same issue had forced him to miss out against Osasuna this past weekend. But the good news is that Luka Modric has returned to the matchday squad after being unavailable on Sunday.
Eduardo Camavinga is also in the squad, even though several reports had claimed that he had trained individually on Monday. Ancelotti provided an update on Courtois during his pre-match press conference, suggesting the Belgian international will likely return next week.
The Real Madrid boss said, “Courtois is much better after the treatment yesterday. We’re not sure about the next game against Getafe. He might be ready for the return game against Shakhtar or the Clasico.”
Andriy Lunin will continue to deputise for Courtois between the sticks, with Real Madrid lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him. Eder Militao should return to the starting lineup, with Antonio Rudiger dropping to the bench. Militao will pair up with David Alaba at the heart of the Real Madrid defence. Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy should continue as the two full-backs against Shakhtar.
Up ahead in midfield, Federico Valverde is in line to return to the starting lineup after earning some rest on the weekend. Valverde will join Aurelien Tchouameni and Toni Kroos in the middle of the park, with Ancelotti likely to preserve Luka Modric’s fitness.
Meanwhile, Karim Benzema came in for some criticism upon his return on the weekend. But Ancelotti sprang to the Real Madrid captain’s defence, saying, “Everyone has a right to their opinion. When Karim isn’t at his level, there may be opinions voiced. This is normal in football. But it doesn’t affect us or Karim.”
Benzema should continue spearheading the Real Madrid attack against Shakhtar Donetsk, with any rest coming at the weekend against Getafe. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes will be the two wide attackers on Wednesday. So Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio will be options on the bench.
Predicted Real Madrid XI: Lunin; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Valverde, Tchouameni, Kroos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius