Real Madrid equalized Guardiola’s record in la Liga last Sunday when the team beat Espanyol at Cornellà. Now the idea is winning Villarreal at home so the club can set a new record of 17 straight wins in La Liga. Zinedine Zidane can make history after only 9 months on the bench but, first, the team needs to beat Villarreal.
It will be a difficult game because the ‘Yellow submarine’ is still unbeaten in La Liga with 8 points. Villarreal started the season with problems after Marcelino’s departure, the former coach, and they were knocked out in the Champions League preview by Mónaco. However, the team has improved and Pato or Sansone are putting some quality into the games.
Villarreal could draw two seasons ago at Bernabéu stadium (1-1) but they lost last season with Zidane on the bench (3-0). Villarreal have never won at Bernabéu stadium but they’ve put Los Blancos in several problems in the last games.
It’s a very important week for Los Blancos. After facing Villarreal, the team has to travel to Las Palmas to play against one of the best teams in this start of the season. Besides, tomorrow Barcelona face Atlético de Madrid, so there will be a chance to make bigger the gap between the two rivals for La Liga title.
Zidane cannot count with Casemiro and Pepe. The stopper was substituted against Espanyol and he has a hit in the calf. It’s not a serious injury but the Brazilian will rest. The same applied to Pepe, who will rest this week, so Varane and Sergio Ramos will play from the beginning. Luka Modric was not included in the list, so there will be plenty of changes in the midfield. The good news for the French coach is that Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo are back for the game. The ‘BBC’ can play again together, but Lucas Vázquez or James Rodríguez could also have the opportunity to start the game after the good performance against Espanyol.
Real Madrid possible XI: Casilla, Marcelo, Ramos, Varane, Danilo; Kovacic, Kroos, James; Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema.
Villarreal possible XI: Asenjo, Costa, Víctor Ruiz, Musacchio, Mario; Bruno, N’Diaye, Cheryshev, J. Dos Santos; Santos Borré and Sansone.
