Real Madrid welcome Real Sociedad to the Santiago Bernabeu tomorrow evening in another important La Liga clash. Los Blancos are currently six points clear of second-placed Sevilla at the top of the table but that could be cut to three if the Andalusian side beat Deportivo Alaves at Mendizorroza later today.
Madrid are also going to be conditioned by the fact that their next game after La Real is the small matter of their Champions League last 16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. PSG come into that one with a slight advantage after their 1-0 triumph in the first leg at the Parc des Princes thanks to Kylian Mbappe’s late and dramatic stoppage time winner.
La Real aren’t in bad form, either. They were knocked out of the Europa League by Bundesliga side Leipzig but they’ve won their last two games and are currently sixth in the league table, a point behind fifth-placed Atletico Madrid and fourth-placed Barcelona.
“[Fede] Valverde and [Toni] Kroos aren’t available for tomorrow but I think they both will be for Wednesday,” Carlo Ancelotti said pre-match in comments carried by Mundo Deportivo. “The Kroos thing is very little, it’s a very small problem.
“I rested him in the match against Alaves so I don’t think it’s a problem of fatigue but of bad luck. Real Madrid haven’t had that many injuries, only [David] Alaba, who was out for a week. Kroos is only out for five days. Only having these injuries in this stretch of the season means we’ve worked well with regards to our physical preparation.”