Real Madrid returns to the Bernabéu tonight with the need to heal its wounds after the setback in the Super Cup. The whites are playing the first of a series of three games in their stadium today and tonight’s round of 16 of the Cup against a Celta without Iago Aspas is presented as the ideal to achieve a mental recovery. An elimination would lead the club to a crisis that would make the one suffered in the autumn smaller and would have unforeseeable consequences.
Ancelotti does not want surprises and has only included one youth player in the squad, Lorenzo Aguado, who already played against Deportiva Minera in the previous round. The entire starting team is going and the only guaranteed rotation is that of Lunin for Courtois, who has not entered the list.
Madrid’s eleven
Lunin and Vinícius, safe
“The general idea is to put the best team possible because everyone has recovered well,” the Italian coach said in the previous press conference. Vinícius is considered safe in the eleven because next Sunday against Las Palmas he will have to fulfill the first of his two games of suspension in the League for his expulsion on January 3 at Mestalla.
The big question that Ancelotti has to resolve is whether the team will continue with the 4-3-3 that he likes so much or will reinforce the midfield with a fourth midfielder. Another interesting topic is to see if Tchouaméni is still in the center of defense alongside Rüdiger despite his terrible game against Barcelona. If the Frenchman does not play, it would be the moment for Raúl Asencio, the youth player who has performed the best this season.
The Celtic
He eliminated Madrid from the Cup in 2017
Celta arrives at the Bernabéu ranked in the middle of the table (twelfth). It is a happy playing team that Madrid is quite good at. It would not be the first time that the whites have been eliminated from the Cup. The last time happened in 2017, with Eduardo Berizzo on the bench. On that occasion they won 1-2 at the Bernabéu. Since then they have only managed one draw, 2-2 in 2020: the only one in their last twelve visits. This season he is not doing very well as a visitor either, with only one victory in nine outings.
In his press conference Claudio Giráldez promised that his team will play with courage because they have nothing to lose. The youth of your squad is your best ally. Apart from Aspas, Alfon is low. It remains to be seen if the coach gives some breaks thinking about Sunday’s League match against Athletic Club.
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