Real Madrid take on Malaga at the Santiago Bernabeu this evening looking to maintain their place at the top of the table.
Los Blancos beat Athletic Bilbao midweek, with Karim Benzema netting a brace to extend Madrid’s winning run in La Liga to four games and remain unbeaten since the start of the campaign.
Real are top scorers in the division along with Celta Vigo, with Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo netting five apiece. They have conceded just once in the season so far too, with Keylor Navas falling just five minutes short of setting a new club record for not conceding when Sabine Merino netted in the 67th minute at San Mames.
Today’s visitors go into the game without a win in La Liga and sitting in 19th place with just one point. They are also yet to score a goal in the league – the only team to fail to score in their opening five games so will be huge underdogs at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In terms of team news, Sergio Ramos looks likely to sit out the game with a shoulder injury, while there is no Danilo, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez – all long term absentees. Jese Rodriguez will likely start on the bench despite Rafa Benitez praising him for his work ethic in training over the past few weeks.
For the visitors, striker Nordin Amrabat looks to have shaken off his ankle problem, but Roque Santa Cruz is ruled out.
Possible line-ups:
Real Madrid: Navas, Varane, Pepe, Marcelo, Carvajal, Ronaldo, Kroos, Kovacic, Modric, Isco, Benzema
Malaga: Kameni, Weligton, Angeleri, Rosales, Boka, Horta, Tissone, Recio, Duda, Juanpi, Charles
