La Liga is finally back! The World Cup is over and 50 days after defeating Cádiz at the Bernabéu, Real Madrid return to league action. The Whites head to the José Zorrilla stadium this Friday to take on Valladolid (9:30pm CET) on matchday 15 of LaLiga with the aim of regaining top spot in the table. A win for Ancelotti’s men would put them back at the top of the table and put pressure on the blaugranas, who play the Barcelona derby on December 31.
The opposition: We face Valladolid, who went into the World Cup break in 12th place in LaLiga with a record of five wins, two draws and seven defeats. Four of those victories came at a José Zorrilla stadium which is proving to be key in the fight to avoid relegation and where they have also won three times. Sergio León is the top scorer of the Pucelan team, with 7 goals.
Carlo Ancelotti has already announced his squad for the clash as follows:
REAL MADRID SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin, Luis López.
Defenders: Carvajal, E. Militão, Alaba, Vallejo, Nacho, Odriozola, Lucas V., Rüdiger, F. Mendy.
Midfielders: Kroos, Modrić, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni, D. Ceballos.
Forwards: Hazard, Benzema, Asensio, Vini Jr., Rodrygo.
This will be the team’s last outing of the calendar year ahead of what will be a demanding start to 2023 with a tough first month which will see Ancelotti’s men play a minimum of five games (this could increase to eight if the team is successful) in three different competitions: Copa del Rey, LaLiga and Spanish Super cup. The madridistas kick off the year on Tuesday 3 in the Copa del Rey last-32 tie against Cacereño (9pm CET). On Saturday 7, they travel to face Villarreal on matchday 16 of the league competition (4:15pm CET).
The team will then travel to Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) to play in the Spanish Super Cup. The Whites will be defending their title, secured last year, and will take on Valencia on Wednesday 11 January. If they win, they will meet the winners of the Betis-Barcelona clash on Sunday 15.
After the Spanish Super Cup, and providing they beat Cacereño, Ancelotti‘s side will play in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey between 17 and 19 January. On the weekend of 21 and 22 Madrid head to Athletic Club on matchday 18 of LaLiga and, if they have made it through to the quarter-finals of the cup, they will play on either 24, 25 or 26 January. The madridistas wrap up the month at the Santiago Bernabéu where they will host Real Sociedad on matchday 19 of LaLiga (28 or 29). After the last game of 2022, Madrid will face a very busy and difficult time schedule:
REAL MADRID FIXTURE LIST
-Valladolid-Real Madrid (Friday 30 December, 9:30pm CET)
-Cacereño-Real Madrid (Tuesday 3 January, 9:00pm)
-Villarreal-Real Madrid (Saturday 7 January, 4:15pm)
-Real Madrid-Valencia (Wednesday 11 January, time to be confirmed)
-Spanish Super Cup final? (Sunday 15 January)
-Copa del Rey last 16? (17, 18 or 19 January)
-Athletic-Real Madrid (21 or 22 January)
- Copa del Rey quarter-finals? (24, 25 or 26 January)
-Real Madrid-Real Sociedad (28 or 29 January)
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