Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham should return to the Real Madrid starting lineup against Deportivo Alaves on Tuesday.
Real Madrid will aim to continue building the momentum towards the UEFA Champions League final when they welcome Deportivo Alaves at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night. And Carlo Ancelotti does not have any new issues hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
David Alaba and Aurelien Tchouameni remain on the sidelines, with the former playing his final game of the 2023/24 season. Meanwhile, Tchouameni is battling to be fit enough to make it to the UEFA Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund. Otherwise, Ancelotti has a full-strength squad for the midweek La Liga fixture.
Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Ancelotti spoke about Tchouameni’s chances of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League final. The Italian tactician also discussed Eder Militao’s progress while addressing questions on the goalkeeping conundrum.
The Real Madrid manager said, “He [Tchouameni] doesn’t have much of a chance, but he’s not ruled out for the final. It’s an important week for him. His foot doesn’t hurt too much, it’s different from the last problem he had. He [Militao] needs to play more minutes. He’s progressing very well, he’s getting better every game. Hopefully he can be at his best for the final.”
On the goalkeeping situation, Ancelotti said, “We’ll evaluate it. Lunin could play one of these games and we also want to give Kepa the opportunity to play a little bit. It won’t be so easy because there are not so many games. Lunin has had a fantastic season and Courtois is the best in the world when he’s at his best.”
Despite Ancelotti’s comments, Thibaut Courtois will feature between the sticks, with Real Madrid lining up in a 4-4-2 formation in front of him against Alaves. The backline should feature Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger, Nacho, and Ferland Mendy.
As for the midfield unit, Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde should replace Dani Ceballos and Luka Modric, joining Eduardo Camavinga in the middle of the park. Jude Bellingham will return to the starting lineup, with Arda Guler making way. Finally, Vinicuis Junior and Brahim Diaz should complete the numbers for the home side.
Predicted Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy; Valverde, Camavinga, Kroos; Bellingham; Diaz, Vinicius Junior
