Madrid: Spanish football powerhouse Real Madrid should make an important step towards the knockout phase of the Champions League when they entertain Poland’s Legia Warsaw in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium here Tuesday.
Legia travel to Madrid as the minnows of Group F after suffering two defeats and conceding eight goals without scoring any in their previous games against Borussia Dortmund and Sporting Club de Portugal and as such home fans will probably be looking forward to an easy night.
However, Madrid’s injury crisis remains a concern with first team regulars Casemiro, James Rodriguez, Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos all out, but that wasn’t a problem Saturday when Zinedine Zidane’s side ran rampant with a 6-1 win away to Betis in La Liga.
With a difficult Spanish League game at home against Athletic Bilbao next weekend, Zidane will definitely rotate his squad and Nacho Fernandez has a good chance of starting in central defence along with Danilo at right-back position.
Marcos Asensio and Alvaro Morata could also both start as Zidane looks to keep their attack fresh, but one player who would not want to miss out on the chance to score more goals is Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Spanish giants went through a lukewarm session, Monday with players just indulging in light physical drills. Zidane, however, was not ready to lament on the absence of some key first team players.
“The ability of any club is measured by their bench strength,” Zidane told reporters. “I feel that we have the necessary firepower to tackle Legia. But even then I would say that we are not taking any teams lightly.”
Reuters
