Real Madrid suffered their first defeat of the 2020-21 season over the weekend when they lost to newly-promoted Cadiz on Saturday. The La Liga side will look to put that disappointment behind when they face Shakhtar Donetsk tonight in the UEFA Champions League.
Madrid will hope to do better in the competition than last season when they were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Manchester City. They will be expected to cruise through the group stage of the competition and top Group B, which also includes Inter Milan and Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Let’s take a look at the possible Real Madrid lineup for tonight’s game.
PREDICTED REAL MADRID LINEUP vs SHAKHTAR DONETSK (4-3-3)
Team News
Martin Odegaard, Dani Carvajal, and Eden Hazard are out of the opening match of the Champions League, while Alvaro Odriozola is a doubt.
Captain Sergio Ramos was brought off in the loss against Cadiz as a precautionary measure and he may be fit to play on Wednesday night.
Goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois should play in goal for the defending La Liga champions.
Defence
Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane should play as the two centre-backs for Madrid on Wednesday. If the Madrid captain is unavailable due to injury or is deemed a risk, we will see Eder Militao play in his place in the Real Madrid lineup.
Ferland Mendy could start in place of Marcelo at left-back, while Nacho could continue at right-back if Odriozola is not available for this game.
Midfield
Manager Zinedine Zidane could make a few changes to the midfield that lost to Cadiz over the weekend.
Toni Kroos, Isco and Luka Modric played in midfield in the league game, but the trio may not play against Shakhtar with a crucial game upcoming against Barcelona. We could see Federico Valverde and Casemiro replace Isco and Modric in the middle of the park in the Real Madrid lineup.
Attack
Karim Benzema should lead the line for Real Madrid, while Luka Jovic will be an option for Zidane off the bench.
Eden Hazard’s continued absence means that Vinicius should start on the left in the Real Madrid lineup.
Lucas Vazquez put in a poor performance when he played on the right side of attack against Cadiz. He could be replaced by Marco Asensio on the right for Madrid.
