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Real Madrid – Valencia (La Liga)

Real Madrid and Valencia will face each other this Saturday at Santiago Bernabéu, in Madrid, in a game referent to the 35th round of La Liga. After a home defeat against Barcelona, a defeat that costed them the league’s leadership, Los Blancos didn’t take long to get back to winning ways, winning in the last round in Deportivo’s home por 2-6, where Zidane made a lot of changes in the initial XI. Valencia, on their turn, surprised with going 4 games unbeaten, but are losing their way once again, arriving in Madrid with two consecutive defeats.

Real Madrid are 2nd placed in the La Liga table with the same 78 points than the league leader Barcelona, the result of 24 victories, 6 draws and 3 losses, with 90 goals scored and 38 goals conceded. Real Madrid bounced back from their weekend El Classico defeat with a 2-6 win over Deportivo at Riazor, with their second-string side performing very well once again, and with Zinedine Zidane making a lot of changes again, leaving Navas, Cristiano Ronaldo, Modric, Toni Kroos and Benzema out from the last game. With the same amount of points than Barcelona at the top of the table, and with one game behind schedule, it becomes imperative for Los Blancos to win all the last games in La Liga in order to keep putting pressure on the Blaugrana.

This is a game with a special meaning for the Merengues, who will try to seek revenge for the defeat in the first round of La Liga, where they lost 2-1 at the Mestalla. At home, for the spanish league, the Madrid side lost only 1 game this season, which is the only defeat at the Bernabéu since February 2016, and will enter in this tie with full strength, exploring Valencia’s defensive difficulties. It is important to highlight that besides their lethality when attacking down the wings, attacking set pieces and counter attacks, Los Blancos have a variety of very talented players, mainly Isco, Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodríguez and Asensio, all of them capable of making the difference at any moment.

In their last 5 official games, Real Madrid won 4 games and lost the other one. This sequence of results started with a 1-2 away victory in Bayern Munich’s home, for the Champions League. This result was followed with a 2-3 victory in Sporting Gijón’s home, a 4-2 home win over Bayern Munich, for the Champions League, and in their last clash, a 2-3 home defeat at the hands of Barcelona. Pepe and Gareth Bale are still out due to injury.

Probable Lineup: Navas – Carvajal, Varane, Ramos and Marcelo – Kroos, Casemiro and Modric – Asensio, Benzema and Ronaldo.

Valencia, on their turn, are 12th placed in the La Liga table with 40 points, the result of 11 victories, 7 draws and 16 losses, with 49 goals scored and 59 conceded. After going through what was their best moment during all season, being unbeatable during 4 consecutive games, winning 3 and drawing the other one, Valencia had a relapse and lost the last 2 games, agains Málaga and Real Sociedad. With the maintenance secured and with the european spots completely out of their reach, Los Che arrive here without any more goals to achieve in the spanish league, but will surely try to get in Real Madrid’s way as they did in the first round of the championship.

However, their form away from home is far away from being a good one, introducing themselves here with 4 defeats in their last 5 games, winning the other one, and scored 6 goals while conceded 12 in the process. This is a team with little offensive strengths, and with some defensive loopholes, like defending set pieces, defending counter attacks and against long shots, and make fouls often in dangerous areas. Besides these defensive difficulties, Voro’s men have important players out for this game due to injury, like Simone Zaza and Rodrigo Moreno.

In their last 5 official games, Valencia won 2 games, draw 1 and lost the remaining 2. This sequence of results started with a 3-2 home victory over Celta de Vigo. This result was followed by a 1-3 at Granada’s home, a 0-0 home draw against Sevilla’s, a 2-0 away defeat at the hands of Málaga, and in their last clash, a 2-3 home defeat agains Real Sociedad. Rodrigo Moreno and Abdennour, both injured, and Zaza and Cancelo, both suspended, are all out for this game.

Probable Lineup: Alves – Montoya, Mangala, Garay and Lato – Pérez and Parejo – Mina, Soler and Nani – Haddadi.

Real Madrid has won just 2 of their last 8 direct confronts, drawing 2 and losing the remaining 2.

Valencia are weakened in their offensive sector and are evidencing some defensive difficulties. Playing with the support of their fans, Real Madrid will enter at maximum strength and will seek revenge for the defeat in the first round of La Liga.