Real Madrid host Villarreal just three days after their disappointing loss in Lille, which means that Los Blancos will have the pressure of needing to bounce back and earn a convincing win over Villarreal, who have been a high-quality team so far this season.
Real Madrid predicted XI: Lunin, Carvajal, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Mendy, Camavinga, Valverde, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Vinicius, Mbappe.
Villarreal predicted XI: Conde, Femenia, Bailly, Costa, Cardona, Parejo, Gueye, Comesaña, Baena, Pepe, Barry.
Rodrygo and Mbappe will likely return to the starting lineup, while Tchouameni could be deployed as a center-back in order to give Militao the chance to rest.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media after the team’s first defeat of the season to Lille and ahead of a return to La Liga against Villarreal, speaking to say, “everyone can say what they want, nothing happens after what happened on Wednesday.
There are times when you have to reconnect, you have to do it soon. Sometimes a good run makes you think you’re invincible, but a defeat brings you back to reality. We are still not at our level, we have players who are not at their best. We are not far from where we want to be. We lack defensive intensity and, offensively, ball circulation.”
“I insist, we have talked about the fact that we have to circulate the ball faster to the strikers and that we lack defensive intensity. If there is another defeat we will talk about that, but we have a streak of 40 matches without losing in La Liga, if we fall we will be sad but we will look for solutions.”
