After extending their 100% record in the Champions League with a win over Shakhtar at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday, Real Madrid return to LaLiga action on matchday eight (9:00pm CEST). The White team will take on Getafe looking to pick up a fifth successive league win away from home, having already seen off Almería, Celta, Espanyol and Atlético de Madrid on the road.
Madrid arrive at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez with another demanding week on the horizon. Following tonight's clash, Ancelotti's boys travel to Warsaw to face Shakhtar again on Tuesday, on Champions League matchday four. Five days later, they'll be back at the Santiago Bernabéu for the first Clásico of the season.
“This is a very complete team with more than one identity”, explained Ancelotti in the pre-match press conference. The Italian coach's squad includes Vini Jr. and Rodrygo, who both found the net in the midweek Champions League fixture. The two forwards are enjoying a great run in front of goal - at least one of them has scored in the six LaLiga games (Celta, Espanyol, Betis, Mallorca, Atlético and Osasuna).
Getafe: The Madrid-based side kicks off the week in fourteenth place, with seven points, four of which have come at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez thanks to a win over Real Sociedad (2-1) and a draw with Villarreal (0-0). Enes Ünal and Gastón are Getafe's top scorers so far, each with two. They have been constantly a solid team in the recent years and despite their not so great form, they remain a dangerous team.
“Getafe haven't had such a good start this season, but they're back playing with intensity and are well organised. It's never easy to win there, it's going to be tough for us, but we're confident we'll get the better of them", Ancelotti said in his interview. The Italian will come to this match without some important players. He named his squad for the LaLiga matchday eight fixture as follows.
REAL MADRID SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Lunin, Luis López and Cañizares.
Defenders: Carvajal, Militão, Alaba, Vallejo, Nacho, Odriozola, Rüdiger and F. Mendy.
Midfielders: Kroos, Modrić, Camavinga, Valverde, Lucas V. and Tchouameni.
Forwards: Hazard, Asensio, Vini Jr., Rodrygo and Mariano.
Ceballos will miss due to a femoral biceps injury as stated by the club on Thursday. “Following the tests carried out today on our player Dani Ceballos by the Real Madrid medical department, he has been diagnosed with a injury to his femoral biceps. His progress will be monitored”, Real Madrid wrote in an official announcement.
On the other had Benzema will be absent in order to prepare for the next big games. The Frenchman didn't train with his teammates on Friday in order to stay fresh. The Frenchman missed most of September with an injury and played against Osasuna and Shakhtar Donetsk, but didn't look sharp and didn't find the back of the net in either outing.
Real Madrid insist that he doesn't have an injury but he will be rested for Saturday's short trip to the south of Madrid. "He's not ruled out, but he might be rested," Carlo Ancelotti said in Friday's press conference. "We'll evaluate it on Saturday morning." However, it later emerged that Benzema will indeed miss the game.
As for Thibaut Courtois he will continue to be out until he gets back to his best form. That means Andriy Lunin will start in goals away at Getafe, looking for his first clean sheet with Real Madrid after conceding in each of his seven first-team appearances so far. Thibaut’s issue, which is related to his sciatic nerve, could also rule the keeper out of next week's Champions League contest with Shakhtar, but the boss Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that the Belgian will definitely be available for El Clasico on October 16.
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