Marc Cucurella and Bernardo Silva will make their first competitive appearance for Real Madrid when they take on RCD Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium on Saturday.
Real Madrid will be eager to begin the 2026/27 La Liga season with a bang when they lock horns with RCD Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium on Saturday night. Jose Mourinho has a few pressing injury concerns to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Endrick is the latest absentee after sustaining a muscular issue that will keep him on the sidelines for a short period. Meanwhile, Eder Militao (thigh), Ferland Mendy (ligament), Thiago Pitarch (knee), and Rodrygo (ACL) are in the treatment room for a long time.
However, Aurelien Tchouameni is on the cusp of regaining full fitness after resuming training, though he is not in the travelling squad to take on Espanyol. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Mourinho provided fitness updates on Endrick and Tchouameni.
The Real Madrid manager said, “I’m calm. Regarding the squad, you’ve rightly pointed out the difficulty of starting at different moments and in different groups. Obviously, there are players with 36 training sessions and six matches, and others with five training sessions and a bit of a game. But the players and the staff are exceptional.”
“I’ve been able to prepare differentiated work for everyone, like for those who were here only for individual training. Sometimes we joked because there was one player for ten people, including assistants, trainers, doctors, physios… If you ask me if I’d like to have one more week to prepare things even better, of course, yes. But I also tell you that we are already tired of friendlies. We want real matches, and now they’re here.”
“The injured players from last season, with long-term injuries, I don’t expect to recover them in one, two, or three weeks. The only player unavailable for this match is Endrick, who has a minor muscle issue. Tchouameni is fine and already training with the team. He’ll train today, but he has to train in the afternoon as well and will do so tomorrow and Sunday to speed up his process. Due to his injury, he’s not in the condition to play this match against Espanyol.”
Thibaut Courtois is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Real Madrid lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Espanyol on Saturday. The backline will feature Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen, Antonio Rudiger, and Marc Cucurella.
As for the midfield unit, Bernardo Silva will line up alongside Federico Valverde in the double pivot, with Jude Bellingham reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Kylian Mbappe will lead the line for Los Blancos against Espanyol, with Vinicius Junior and Arda Guler completing the numbers in the offensive unit. So, Yan Diomande will make his debut off the bench.
Predicted Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Rudiger, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Silva; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappe
