Eduardo Camavinga and Rodrygo Goes will return to the Real Madrid starting lineup when they host Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.
Real Madrid will be eager to return to winning ways and keep pace with Barcelona atop La Liga when they welcome Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday afternoon. Alvaro Arbeloa has no new injury concerns to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (thigh), Eder Militao (hamstring), Ferland Mendy (hamstring), and Antonio Rudiger (knee) remain in the treatment room for the home side. Meanwhile, Raul Asencio and Rodrygo, who picked up red cards in their UEFA Champions League outing.
However, they are available and in the squad for this La Liga fixture, as the suspensions will be valid for the UEFA Champions League. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Arbeloa did not provide fitness updates on any players. However, the Spanish tactician discussed the possibility of resting certain players during the period of a fixture pile-up.
The Real Madrid boss said, “I understand the football debates. But I always want to have the best players on the pitch. The more minutes they can play for me, at the disposal of the team, the better. We saw it, for example, in Villarreal: with two minutes left in stoppage time, Mbappe’s goal came from a very good move by Vinicius Jr, who went inside, turned the play and found Mbappe, who was awarded a penalty.”
“These are players who are capable of deciding a match at any minute. There will be people who aren’t Madrid fans who don’t want them on the pitch. I imagine that Madrid fans want their best players to always be available and on the pitch. The five players you said are players who, on a world level, can be in the top ten. They have my full confidence. It’s not my confidence, it’s their performance that puts them on the field.”
Thibaut Courtois is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Real Madrid lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday. The backline will feature Federico Valverde, Raul Asencio, Dean Huijsen, and Alvaro Carreras.
As for the midfield unit, Eduardo Camavinga will replace Arda Guler, joining Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham in the middle of the park. Finally, Kylian Mbappe will lead the line for the home side against Rayo Vallecano, with Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes being the two wide attackers.
Predicted Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Huijsen, Carreras; Camavinga, Tchouameni, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Junior
