Real Madrid have confirmed their squad for Sunday’s La Liga clash against Barcelona, with Rodrygo returning following an illness, but six players are on the sidelines through injuries.
Rodrygo was not involved in last weekend’s 3-2 success over Celta Vigo, as he was suffering with a fever, but head coach Carlo Ancelotti said during his press conference on Saturday that the Brazilian had recovered.
The forward’s return has now been confirmed, and as expected, there are six first-team absentees for the capital giants.
Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Eduardo Camavinga, Antonio Rudiger, Ferland Mendy and David Alaba are all out for the rest of the season.
However, Real Madrid have received some positive news on the injury front, as Carvajal and Militao, who have been missing for some time due to knee injuries, are on course to return to action for the Club World Cup.
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Real Madrid confirm squad for Sunday’s clash with Barcelona
Raul Asencio is again expected to be joined in the middle of the defence by Aurelien Tchouameni due to the team’s severe issues in that area of the field, but Jesus Vallejo could be in line for just his second appearance of the season if one of those two suffer an injury.
Much of the pre-match talk has surrounded Arda Guler and his possible involvement from the first whistle.
Guler has scored five goals and registered nine assists in 38 appearances for Real Madrid this season, and he was outstanding against Celta last time out, scoring once and providing an assist.
The Turkey international also registered against Getafe in La Liga on April 23, and the expectation is that he will be in the XI on Sunday afternoon, with Rodrygo starting on the bench.
“He (Rodrygo) has trained well all week and is recovering from the fever he had last week. We don’t have many options for the starting lineup because there are a lot of players out. He’s an important option for us, as is Arda,” Ancelotti said on Saturday.
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Ancelotti looking to ‘open up’ La Liga title race
Real Madrid are currently second in the La Liga table, four points behind leaders Barcelona, demonstrating the importance of claiming all three points in the latest instalment of El Clasico.
“Winning a league is very difficult, not as difficult as winning the Champions League, but it needs consistency and the fact that it can be achieved explains perfectly well what tomorrow’s match will be like. Both teams have a lot at stake,” Ancelotti added.
“If they win tomorrow, they will have a better chance of winning it than us, but if we win, the league opens up and anything can happen in the last three games.”
Real Madrid’s final three league matches of the campaign will come against Mallorca, Sevilla and Real Sociedad, and it is set to be Ancelotti’s last Clasico, with Xabi Alonso, who is leaving Bayer Leverkusen, expected to replace him as head coach this summer.
Real Madrid squad vs. Barcelona:
Courtois, Lunin, Mestre; Vazquez, Vallejo, F Garcia, Asencio, Youssef, Jacobo; Bellingham, Valverde, Modric, Tchouameni, Guler, Ceballos; Vinicius, Mbappe, Rodrygo, Endrick, Brahim, Munoz
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