It’s a very quick turnaround for Real Madrid, who no doubt spent a ton of emotion in their thrilling 3-3 draw with Manchester City on Tuesday night. It was an instant classic of a 1st leg of the Champions League Quarterfinals, but now the scene shifts back to La Liga, for a fixture with lower table Mallorca.
Let’s preview this “sandwich game” of sorts.
Real Madrid at Mallorca FYIs
Kick: Sat. April 13, 5:30pm, Estadi Mallorca Son Moix
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
La Liga Standing, Form: Mallorca 15th, 31 pts, DWLWD Real Madrid 1st, 72 pts, WWWDW
Result Probability: Mallorca 19% Draw 26% Real Madrid 55%
Real Madrid Team News
Nothing new here, at all. Thibaut Courtois and David Alaba remain out for the season, with serious knee injuries.
However, Frenchman Aurelien Tchouameni is now suspended for the second leg of the UCL round of eight tie, so it is almost certain that he’ll get a start here, as he’ll have rest enforced upon him soon.
We’re predicting that manager Carlo Ancelotti will heavily rotate his squad for this match. One of the highlights could be Eder Militao finally making his first start of the season.
Starting Lineup Prediction
Andriy Lunin; Lucas Vaquez, Nacho Fernandes, Eder Militao, Federico Garcia; Aurielen Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos, Luka Modric; Jude Bellingham; Brahmin Diaz, Vinicius Jr.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.