Real Madrid await the challenge of Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday evening.
Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior face a big test of helping Real Madrid overturn the defeat in Paris to reach the Champions League quarter finals. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)
Los Blancos lost 1-0 to a late goal from Kylian Mbappé in the first leg in Paris last month. Since then, Carl Ancelotti’s side have beaten Alaves, Rayo Vallecano and
Real Sociedad in La Liga thereby, moving eight points clear at the top of the table.
Nonetheless, Real will be in for a stiff challenge in the midweek as they aim to overturn the 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Paris.
Real Madrid Team News
Ferland Mendy and Casemiro are suspended after picking up their third yellow cards of the competition in the first leg at Parc des Princes.
To add to Real Madrid’s absentees, Toni Kroos picked up a hamstring injury in training and missed the 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad. However, Carlo Ancelotti expects the German midfield maestro to be available for the game against PSG.
Predicted Real Madrid Lineup vs PSG (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois can not be dropped from the starting XI due to the form he has been in since the start of the season. The Belgian is a sure starter in the Real Madrid lineup.
Defence
Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao and David Alaba are expected to hold on to their places in the defence. The suspension of Ferland Mendy is a blow to Ancelotti’s side which will open the door for the experienced Marcelo to start at left-back on Wednesday.
The Real Madrid backline will need to be on their toes for the entire game to keep a star studded PSG attack at bay.
Midfield
While Ancelotti expects Toni Kroos to recover from a hamstring problem in time to face PSG, the German midfielder is likely to only make the bench. This should see Fede Valverde start in midfield in the Real Madrid lineup with the Uruguayan known for his energy, tenacity
and ball progression.
Casemiro’s suspension should see Eduardo Camavinga start in the defensive midfield role. The Frenchman scored a spectacular long.range goal against Real.Sociedad last weekend and will be keen to get on the scoresheet again. Completing Real’s midfield triumvirate
will be Luka Modric who is a big game player and will be raring to erase the bitter taste of first-leg defeat in Paris with a strong show in Madrid.
Attack
Karim Benzema is ageing, but his hunger for scoring goals remains intact. The Frenchman who has been outstanding this season needs just an opportunity or two to make the difference. He will lead the line, flanked by Vinicius Jr and Marco Asensio.
The front three of Benzema, Asensio and Vinicius Jr will need to get their act together tonight to help Real defeat PSG as this will be their biggest test yet in the competition knockout stages post Cristiano Ronaldo era at the club.
The Portuguese spare headed a lot of Real Madrid comebacks in the competition and it is now down to Benzema and Vinicius Junior, to replicate the brilliance of the current Manchester United forward for Real tonight.
Author: Murtala Yasir
