Reigning La Liga champions Real Madrid host Mallorca in the Spanish top flight on Sunday lunchtime.
Los Blancos only played their first home match of the season last weekend while the Santiago Bernabeu underwent further reconstruction during August. Madrid were well worth their 2-1 victory against Real Betis and lost just once on home turf in the league in the previous campaign.
Here’s the XI Carlo Ancelotti may deploy to extend their impressive home form.
GK: Thibaut Courtois – The Belgian number one may be saving 80% of the shots that have flown his way, but Courtois is yet to keep a La Liga clean sheet this season.
RB: Lucas Vazquez – While captaining Madrid’s B team in his early 20s, Vazquez lost home and away to Mallorca during a relegation-doomed campaign in the second tier.
CB: Antonio Rudiger – The versatile German has completed more shots (three) than tackles (one) during his start to life in the Spanish capital.
CB: David Alaba – The three-time Champions League winner comes from a family familiar with success, his mother Gina is a nurse but was crowned Miss Philippines in the 1980s.
LB: Ferland Mendy – After undergoing surgery on his hip as a teenager once an infection got so severe he struggled to walk, Mendy admitted he didn’t return to the pitch devoid of side effects. “I was rubbish,” he remembered. That certainly isn’t the case ten years on.
CM: Federico Valverde – Described as “untouchable in this team” by his manager last season, Valverde has featured in every match so far this term.
CM: Aurelien Tchouameni – The €80m recruit made more interceptions than any other Ligue 1 player last season (114).
CM: Toni Kroos – Johan Cruyff was a tricky person to impress but the legendary Dutchman once described Kroos as “nearly perfect”. Nearly.
RW: Rodrygo – The fleet-footed Brazilian has scored more goals in the Champions League (ten) than in La Liga (eight).
ST: Eden Hazard – Since joining Real Madrid in 2019, Hazard has directly contributed to ten league goals. La Liga’s goalkeepers have combined to score and assist just as many in that time frame.
LW: Vinicius Junior – The in-form Brazilian has scored in each of his last four appearances for the club.
