Real Madrid will play Cadiz on Thursday at the Santiago Bernabeu in an effort to recover from their first La Liga loss of the year.
On Monday night, Rayo Vallecano defeated Los Blancos 3-2, while during the weekend, their guests held Getafe to a scoreless draw.
Real Madrid had a spotless domestic record prior to Monday night’s trip to Rayo Vallecano; nonetheless, their defence was breached three times in a 3-2 setback while Barcelona supporters cheered on the team.
In a frantic first half, Santi Comesana and Alvaro Garcia scored either side of Luka Modric and Eder Militao’s counterattacks, but in the 67th minute of play, Oscar Trejo stepped up to score from the penalty spot after Dani Carvajal touched the ball.
Although Thibaut Courtois saved the first penalty kick, a second attempt was required after it was determined that the Belgian had strayed off his line. As a result, Los Blancos lost the opportunity to pass Barcelona at the top of the standings and will now temporarily occupy second place.
With Barcelona defeating Osasuna on Tuesday, the margin between the two Clasico rivals have widened to five points before Real return to play, and the European champions’ recent form — one win in their past four across all competitions — is not what we have come to expect from them.
At the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, neither team was able to score a goal after more than 100 minutes of play due to three injuries, three red cards, and more.
After Cadiz’s Luis Hernandez was also given the boot early in the second half, Getafe’s Gaston Alvarez and Portu also received red cards. However, that moment could still prove to be crucial for the visitors’ attempts to prevent relegation to the Segunda Division.
Sergio’s team might potentially lift themselves to safety with a shocking victory at the Bernabeu depending on other results this week, but Real Madrid must undoubtedly be on their toes against a team who just two weeks ago overcame their local rivals Atletico Madrid.
WHERE & WHEN?
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu.
Date: Thursday, November 10.
Time: 20:30 GMT.
TEAM NEWS
🎥⚽ 𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙀 | Our final training session ahead of #RealMadridCádiz! https://t.co/tj0rA8pfMv
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) November 9, 2022
Both Karim Benzema and Antonio Rudiger missed the loss to Rayo Vallecano due to muscular exhaustion and hip overload, respectively, raising questions about their physical condition.
Ancelotti was upbeat about Benzema’s availability for the match in Cadiz and downcast about Rudiger’s, but sources suggest that the former may now be questionable for France’s World Cup opener against Australia on November 22.
Iza Carcelen ought likely to start at right-back for Cadiz since Hernandez is expected to serve a one-game suspension after getting sent off for two bookable offences in the draw with Getafe.
Sergio will need to make significant defensive adjustments after losing both of his centre-backs, Victor Chust and Fali, to injuries in the previous game. The former sustained an abdominal injury, while Fali sustained a hamstring injury.
PROBABLE STARTING XIs
Real Madrid predicted XI vs Cadiz: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Modric, Tchouameni, Kroos; Valverde, Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr.
Cadiz predicted XI vs Real Madrid: Ledesma; Carcelen, Cala, Mari, Espino; Ocampo, Emeterio, Fernandez, Bongonda; Sobrino, Lozano.
