By Graham Ruthven
Bouncebackability
A lot has changed for Real Madrid in the past week. First, the home defeat to Valencia saw Carlo Ancelotti’s team lose ground in the Spanish title race. Three days later, the 3-0 loss to Arsenal hit Los Blancos’ chances of winning the Champions League hard.
Real Madrid could be under even more pressure by the time they kick off against Alavés on Sunday depending on Barcelona’s result against Leganés on Saturday. There could be a seven-point gap between the two rivals.
The Bernabéu outfit are on the brink of a full-blown crisis. Ancelotti is facing criticism with many now of the belief that the Italian will depart as Real Madrid manager at the end of the season. Another defeat would further deepen the malaise around the club.
Sitting just two points above the bottom three, Alavés are fighting the threat of relegation, but enter Sunday’s match on the back of an extremely valuable away win over Girona.
Alavés have lost just one of their last five league matches and will make themselves difficult to beat. There’s plenty at stake for both teams despite their contrasting positions in the table.
Key players
Kylian Mbappé failed to make much of an impression in the loss to Arsenal, but the Frenchman has still notched 22 goals in LaLiga this season. He will be an obvious threat against Alavés, presuming he features.
Vinícius Júnior is struggling for his best form at the moment. The Brazilian missed a penalty in the home defeat to Valencia and is clearly low on confidence. Ancelotti might take the opportunity to play him back into form.
Brahim Díaz could be rotated into the lineup. The Morocco international has proved himself as a good depth over the course of the season and is the sort of cohesion player Real Madrid missed against Arsenal during the week.
Carlos Vicente scored the Alavés winner against Girona last weekend and will give the Basque hosts a threat down the right side. He could be key considering Real Madrid’s weakness in behind the full backs.
Kike García has netted 11 times in LaLiga this season and will lead the line for Alavés. If he can exploit the space in behind the Real Madrid backline as Valencia did, he could enjoy a fruitful afternoon.
Team news
Ancelotti will surely rotate his team for the match against Alavés to boost Real Madrid’s slim chances of a comeback against Arsenal next week.
Dani Ceballos, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy and Éder Militão are all long-term absentees. Ancelotti faces a decision between Lucas Vázquez and Fede Valverde at right back while Brahim could start after playing just five minutes against Arsenal.
Antonio Sivera, Jon Guridi and Tomás Conechny will all miss the match at Mendizorrotza through suspension. Otherwise, Eduardo Coudet will have a full squad to choose from.
Prediction
In a way, this is a very similar match up to last weekend’s game for Madrid. Alavés are desperate for points in their bid to avoid the drop, just like Valencia, and will be motivated by seeing what Valencia managed to achieve at the Bernabéu. But surely Madrid can’t let that happened again? We’ll go with Alavés 0-2 Real Madrid.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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