Real Madrid’s draw with Elche three days ago arrested a run of five consecutive LaLiga victories; a far cry from their November form which saw them winless in the month. Los Blancos now sit second in the table, two points back of cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid having played two matches more.
After gaining only three out of a possible 28 points from the end of September until mid-November, Celta Vigo have completely turned their form around and won five of their subsequent six matches in LaLiga. As is so often the case, Iago Aspas has been crucial to Celta’s success, scoring in four of his last five matches. The eighth-placed side can go as high as sixth with a win today, though it’d be their first victory over Madrid in the league since a 2-0 in 2014.
REAL MADRID XI (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Ferland Mendy, Nacho Fernandez, Raphael Varane, Dani Carvajal; Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema, Lucas Vazquez.
REAL MADRID SUBS: Marcelo, Isco, Martin Odegaard, Federico Valverde, Eder Militao, Mariano, Luka Jovic, Eden Hazard, Andriy Lunin, Vinicius Junior, Diego Altube, Alvaro Odriozola.
CELTA VIGO XI (4-4-2): Ruben Blanco; Hugo Mallo, Nestor Araujo, Jeison Murillo, Lucas Olaza; Brais Mendez, Denis Suarez, Renato Tapia, Nolito; Iago Aspas, Santi Mina.
CELTA VIGO SUBS: Lautaro De Leon, Joseph Aidoo, Sergio Carreira, Miguel Rodriguez, Ivan Villar, Miguel Baeza, Okay Yokuslu, Fran Beltran, Jose Manuel Fontan, Gabriel Veiga.
Real Madrid make two changes to the XI that drew with Elche last time out. Mendy replaces Marcelo at left-back, while Nacho is alongside him at centre-back, taking over for the unavailable Sergio Ramos.
Celta Vigo see no need to change their formation, sticking with the same shape and personnel that beat Huesca 2-1. Blanco is kept between the posts, behind a back four of Mallo, Araujo, Murillo and Olaza. Mendez and Nolito cover the flanks while Suarez and Tapia continue their partnership in midfield, the latter providing defensive cover. In attack, Mina plays beside the talisman - Aspas.
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