Karim Benzema has not recovered on time to face Juventus in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Champions League and Chicharito Hernandez could have another chance to convince Florentino Perez he deserves to stay at Real Madrid this summer.
Carlo Ancelotti will miss both Luka Modric and Benzema, so he will very likely line-up Sergio Ramos again in midfield, an unexpected solution he used against Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, and that has proved to work.
In attack, Gareth Bale could return to the starting eleven after featuring for 30 minutes at Sevilla, although Ancelotti could choose to keep Chicharito and take advantage of the Mexican’s great form.
The Italian manager will face the club he managed for two seasons and Los Blancos players will also meet former team-mate Alvaro Morata, who now leads Juventus attack alongside Carlos Tevez.
Massimiliano Allegri has important losses. Paul Pogba will not feature due to a groin injury. Martin Caceres, Kwadwo Asamoah and Luca Marrone are also sidelined through injury.
Both team’s priority will be not conceding goals, but given the offensive power of their forward lines that seems highly unlikely. A draw wouldn’t be a bad result for Los Merengues, who will play the second leg home next week.
Possible line-ups:
Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Marchisio, Pirlo, Vidal; Pereyra; Morata, Tevez.
Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo; James, Kroos, Ramos, Isco; Bale, Ronaldo
