Thibaut Courtois and Jude Bellingham will return to the Real Madrid starting lineup when they take on Girona at Estadi Montilivi on Sunday.
Real Madrid will aim to return to winning ways in La Liga when they lock horns with Girona at Estadi Montilivi on Sunday night. Xabi Alonso has received a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Thibaut Courtois, Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba, Eder Militao, and Franco Mastantuono should be in contention to take on Girona this weekend, with the quintet recovering from their respective fitness issues. However, Alonso is sweating over Raul Asencio’s fitness after the Spaniard missed training due to gastroenteritis.
Additionally, Dean Huijsen and Dani Carvajal remain on the sidelines. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Alonso provided brief fitness updates on Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger, Dean Huijsen, Raul Asencio, and Franco Mastantuono.
The Real Madrid manager said, “We’ve got Rudiger and Militao back. We’ll wait until tomorrow with Asencio. Huijsen isn’t ready yet, we’re waiting. Mastantuono is also in the squad.”
“He [Mastantuono] is better. Pubalgia has its phases, but he’s been able to train for 10 days without discomfort. He was suffering a little on the pitch, so we decided to stop before exacerbating the situation to a point where he wasn’t feeling good. Now he’s training without discomfort and without pain. He’s back with the group and has to get back into the swing of things.”
Thibaut Courtois will replace Andriy Lunin between the sticks, with Real Madrid lining up in a 4-3-1-2 formation in front of him against Girona on Sunday. The backline will feature Trent Alexander-Arnold, Raul Asencio, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Alvaro Carreras. However, Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao will form the central defensive partnership if they are ready to feature from the get-go. That will also mean Tchouameni will start in midfield.
As for the midfield unit, Arda Guler, Eduardo Camavinga, and Federico Valverde will line up in the middle of the park, with Jude Bellingham reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, there is no looking past Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior in the offensive partnership. So, Rodrygo Goes and Franco Mastantuono will be backup options on the bench.
Predicted Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Asencio, Tchouameni, Carreras; Guler, Camavinga, Valverde; Bellingham; Mbappe, Vinicius Junior