Real Madrid put Villarreal to the sword in their last La Liga match. The Merengues scored four goals past the Yellow Submarine and were comfortably the dominant team on the pitch despite missing some important players due to injury.
However, even with this result, Real Madrid still trail Girona in the La Liga table with two points. The Catalans are currently leading La Liga with 44 points, while Real Madrid have 42 points, with Barcelona taking the third place with 38 points, having played one match more than the former two clubs.
Thus, Real Madrid will have to ensure they get a win in this match to keep within close distance to Girona and end the year on a high note.
With their current form, this task would seemingly not be too difficult, as their opponents are currently placed 15th on the league table, having accumulated only 16 points in 17 La Liga matches.
Still, Madrid have their own difficulties as they will be missing both Ferland Mendy and David Alaba, the later for almost the full season because of his ACL tear.
These two will join Courtois, Militao, Camavinga, Vinicius, and Carvajal in the infirmary, while youngsters like Tobias, Asencio, Nico Paz, and Gonzalo Garcia have been called up to take their place in the squad for the game against Alaves.
The full squad for this match is as follows:
Goalkeepers
- Andriy Lunin
- Kepa Arrizabalaga
- Fran Gonzalez
Defenders
- Nacho Fernandez
- Lucas Vazquez
- Fran García
- Antonio Rüdiger
- Vinicius Tobias
- Raul Asencio
Midfielders
- Jude Bellingham
- Toni Kroos
- Luka Modric
- Federico Valverde
- Aurelien Tchouameni
- Dani Ceballos
- Nico Paz
Attackers
- Rodrygo Goes
- Joselu
- Brahim Diaz
- Gonzalo Garcia
