Real Madrid face Valencia on Thursday evening at 21:00 CEST, knowing that they must win in order to keep the gap to Barcelona within two games of overhaul. In Valencia, they face a side in crisis, having just appointed interim manager Voro for the eighth time.
Los Blancos are coming off the back of a draw with Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite playing well and creating numerous opportunities. They also kept their first clean sheet at home all season.
Diario AS say that Eduardo Camavinga will continue as part of that defence, filling in at left-back. Meanwhile Luka Modric is expected to come back into the line-up, possibly at the expense of Dani Ceballos.
Marca also believe that Ceballos will be dropped, despite being lauded for his last two performances. Rodrygo Goes could also leave the line-up to make space for a recovering Aurelien Tchouameni at the base of midfield, with Valverde moving forward. Carlo Ancelotti is still without Ferland Mendy, Lucas Vazquez, David Alaba and potentially Dani Carvajal.
Valencia are on a run of just one win in their last 11 league games, following the exit of Gennaro Gattuso. Los Che are expected to be conservative with their line-up, potentially beginning with left-back Toni Lato in midfield. They will look to capitalise on Samuel Lino’s pace and hope they can give Edinson Cavani a chance to prove his quality.
Real Madrid: Courtois; Nacho, Militao, Rudiger, Camavinga; Tchouameni, Kroos, Modric; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius.
Valencia: Mamardashvili; Foulquier, Comert, Cenk, Gaya; Yunus, Almeida; Castillejo, Lino, Lato; Cavani
