Real Madrid travel to Northern Catalonia on Saturday evening to face Girona at Montilivi, knowing that should either side run out winners, they will finish the matchday at the top of La Liga.
The big news, as confirmed by Carlo Ancelotti, is that Vinicius Junior will return to the starting eleven after nearly five weeks without doing so. He played the final half hour against Las Palmas on Wednesday without problems.
“Vinicius is fine, he will play from the beginning and then we will see how long he can last. It depends on what you ask him to do. Can I play 90 minutes? If I don’t have to run, I can do 100 (laughs).”
“No seriously, it depends on how much we ask him to do, and we will see how long he can go.”
He was also asked if he would be switching systems with the return of Vinicius.
“We are not going to change the system, only details, like in every game.”
In regard to David Alaba, who came off in the first half against Las Palmas with a muscle problem, Ancelotti was confident he would only be out for a matter of days.
“Yes, he has done the tests, he has a small problem, we hope to have him back for Tuesday (against Napoli).”
This will be a major relief for Ancelotti and Real Madrid, who will head to Girona with only two natural options in central defence in Nacho Fernandez and Antonio Rudiger. All of their full-backs should now be fit too, with Ferland Mendy and Dani Carvajal having recovered from their problems.
