Real Madrid starts the ‘January slope’ with reinforcements
The Madrid team receives an improved Mallorca in search of a victory and to take advantage of the Girona-Atlético
MADRID, 2 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid will defend its status as leader of LaLiga EA Sports 2023-2024 this Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabéu (7:15 p.m.) with the visit of an improved RCD Mallorca, the first rival of the so-called ‘January slope’ that starts with good news of the return of important players.
The Madrid team said goodbye to 2023 with a hard-fought victory in Mendizorrotza against Deportivo Alavés (0-1), thanks to a header from Lucas Vázquez following a corner kick in added time and after playing a good part of the second half with one less due to the expulsion of Nacho Fernández.
The victory helped Carlo Ancelotti’s team take the lead in the standings, although tied on points with Girona, and now they will try to stay at least in that situation with a new victory at a Bernabéu where this season they are showing themselves to be very solid. and where Rayo Vallecano has been the only one capable, not only of scratching something positive, but of leaving without fitting in.
The visit of Mallorca, a rival with whom they already had tense duels last season and who was able to beat them on the island, will open the always fearsome carousel of matches with which the new year begins. After this duel, the start of the defense of the Copa del Rey will come and, next week, the dispute of the first official title, the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, with a derby in the semifinals against Atlético de Madrid.
Real Madrid knows that victory can be very valuable in their race for the League since hours later Girona and Atlético will face each other in Montilivi, so the three points against the ‘vermillions’ could put pressure on these two rivals, one to remain tied and the other to not lose any more ground, since it is seven points away.
For this demanding start of the month, the 14-time European champion has good news. Carlo Ancelotti’s renewal until 2026, to put an end to rumors about his future, is joined by a less populated ‘infirmary’ and now only with Eduardo Camavinga and Ferland Mendy after the recoveries of Vinícius Jr, Dani Carvajal and Arda Güler .
The Brazilian winger has managed to shorten the deadlines planned for his last mishap in mid-November, but it seems difficult for the Italian coach to give him minutes from the start and wait for his opportunity on the bench against a defense with which he had moments last year. a lot of tension too.
The full-back could return to the eleven, although not in his usual position, but as an improvised center back alongside Antonio Rüdiger, the only one available due to the injuries of Militao, Alaba and even Mendy and the suspension of Nacho. In any case, it seems more likely that the chosen one will be the Frenchman Tchouameni, who has already done it on other occasions this season. Lunin will be the goalkeeper after the flu process that Kepa has gone through these days.
7 DEFEATS IN A ROW FOR MALLORCA IN THEIR LAST VISITS TO REAL MADRID
In the middle, without the midfielder, it is most likely that Kroos, Modric, Valverde and Bellingham will play, while for the offensive part the pair formed by Rodrygo Goes and Brahim Díaz could repeat, which has given good performance, although Joselu could be an option against the defense of three centre-backs that the team coached by Javier Aguirre will have.
Mallorca will enter the Santiago Bernabéu after a hopeful finale in 2023 where they added seven of the nine points at stake and all of them against direct rivals for permanence such as Sevilla (1-0), Almería (0-0) and Osasuna (3-2), which helped them move away from a drop to five points.
The ‘vermilion’ team has accumulated a total of five games without losing, with the good news also of having established the defensive system and only three goals conceded, which has somewhat compensated for its still offensive weakness due to the loss of its best scorer, Vedat Muriqi.
The Kosovar forward is still out for a match in which ‘Vasco’ Aguirre cannot count on the suspended Jaume Costa either, so Lato or Giovanni González, who could also be central, will play in the left lane, nor with the injured Valjent for the eleven of a Mallorca that has not won at the Bernabéu since 2009. In fact, it has lost in its last seven visits to Real Madrid.
DATASHEET.
–POSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
REAL MADRID: Lunin; Carvajal, Rüdiger, Tchoaumeni, Fran García; Modric, Valverde, Kroos, Bellingham; Brahim and Rodrygo.
RCD MALLORCA: Rajkovic; Maffeo, González, Raíllo, Nastasic, Lato; Antonio, Costa, Dani Rodríguez, Darder; and Larin.
–REFEREE: Muñiz Ruiz (C.Gallego).
–Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
–TIME: 19.15/DAZN.
2024-01-02 18:18:01
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