Real Madrid will aim to keep the fading La Liga title hopes alive when they welcome Celta Vigo to the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday afternoon. Carlo Ancelotti has greeted a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Three players picked up red cards in the ill-tempered Copa del Rey final against Barcelona last week, with Antonio Rudiger, Lucas Vazquez, and Jude Bellingham receiving their marching orders. However, only Rudiger will not feature this weekend, with Vazquez and Bellingham available to take on Celta Vigo.
Rudiger accompanies Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, and Ferland Mendy on the sidelines, with the defensive quintet unavailable for the remainder of the 2024/25 season. In addition, Rodrygo is not in the matchday squad to take on Celta Vigo. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Ancelotti discussed the new injury-enforced absentees.
The Real Madrid manager said, “We’re focused on the present and on the games we’ve got coming up. We can fight for the LaLiga title, and we’ll do that until the final second of the final game, no matter what happens. That’s what we’re focused on, we’re not thinking about anything else. Despite the injuries to Rüdiger, Mendy and Alaba over the last week, we believe we can still put out a good team and win tomorrow’s game.”
Meanwhile, Ancelotti also praised Arda Guler, who has not featured much this season. The Italian tactician said, “He’s made good progress, he’ll have a bigger role to play in the future. He’s showing his quality, consistency in his game, he can play in the centre of the park.”
The Real Madrid manager continued, “I think he’s going to be a fantastic central midfielder, not just a winger, because he has a great understanding of the game and sets the pace well. He’ll be a very important player for Real Madrid in the future because there aren’t many players around with his kind of profile.”
Thibaut Courtois will take his spot between the sticks, with Los Blancos lining up in a 4-4-2 formation against Celta Vigo on Sunday. The backline should feature Lucas Vazquez, Raul Asencio, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Fran Garcia.
As for the midfield unit, Dani Ceballos, Luka Modric, Federico Valverde, and Jude Bellingham will form a diamond. Finally, Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe will be the two strikers. So, Arda Guler and Brahim Diaz will be backup options on the bench for the home side.
Predicted Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Vazquez, Asencio, Tchouameni, Fran Garcia; Valverde, Ceballos, Modric, Bellingham; Vinicius, Mbappe
