Real Madrid’s confirmed starting XI against Girona in LaLiga

Camavinga was the shock at left-back as Ancelotti announced his starting XI for the game against Girona in LaLiga.

Ancelotti will be without David Alaba for Real Madrid’s game against Girona (KO 12.30 p.m. ET/09.30 a.m. PT), but he will in fact have Rüdiger back in contention. The German was diagnosed with a light calf injury caused by an overload after the 2-0 win against Las Palmas and since then he has progressed well.

The defender has made the squad list and is all set to start from the first whistle. The urgency at the back line, with the ex-Chelsea centre-back ready, is not at red levels of danger, but let’s say a yellowy-orange instead.

Which players are injured for Real Madrid?

As for Alaba, he was taken off in the 40th minute against the island team and although Ancelotti expects to have him back for the upcoming UEFA Champions League tie against Napoli next Tuesday, he won’t have him for the game against the LaLiga leaders. In his place comes Carillo, a centre-back from Castilla, Real Madrid’s youth team. However, the young defender looks unlikely to feature, as Nacho is likely to take the place of the injured Austrian.

The game is, quite simply, a hugely important date in the calendar already. Somewhat surprisingly, top spot for the league is up for grabs but Ancelotti will have in mind - as he mentioned in his recent press conference - the large number of minutes already played by a lot of his squad. He cannot force to see players go off injured against the Catalan side, given how tough and tight the upcoming fixture list is. When talking about Rodrygo, for example, the Italian said that he “is the only player who has played in all the games as well those with his national team. Maybe a little rest would be good for him.”

The idea is not to run any risks and give the players only what they can handle, but Madrid need to win if they want to look over the rest of Spain from the top of the table and the manager knows it, which is why he is focussing on his defenders. Girona have a talented team and Savinho is the man in the spotlight so far this season. To stop him tearing up the turf on the left wing, Carvajal is expected to return. On the other side, Caamvinga looks set to start to bring some solidity to the left; Fran García, with his more attacking way of playing, will have to wait.

Modric set to start over Camavinga

The player sacrificed from midfield will be Camavinga (who is negotiating a new contract at Madrid). He is not going through his best moment of form, lacking finesse in his last few games and as such, Carlo is likely to look at Modric to fill the gap. The Croatian didn’t feature against Las Palmas and everything points to him returning for the upcoming game from the start. On the right will be Valverde and in the pivot position, Tchouaméni. His work rate will be key for the side if they want to contain Girona who have delighted fans with their intricate play through the middle of the pitch.

The number 10 spot will be occupied, once again, by Bellingham. Like Modric, the Englishman was rested in the last game and is ready to come back into the XI. Vini Jr is also back in the team after seeing some minutes at the Bernabéu, when in the 30 or so minutes he played, he carried out 6 dribbles. He will be alongside a Joselu that scored but frustrated with missed chances. Brahim also scored that night, but shoulder issues will see him drop out.

Real Madrid confirmed starting XI vs Girona:

Kepa

Carvajal - Rüdiger - Nacho - Camavinga

Valverde - Tchouaméni - Modric

Bellingham

Joselu - Vinicius Jr

Real Madrid

• España

NewsStatistics

LaLiga EA Sports 2023/2024

Classification	PTS	WM	TM	LM
2Girona	19	6	1	0
3Real Madrid	18	6	0	1
4Athletic	14	4	2	1

Full classification

Upcoming matches
Girona - Real Madrid	S-30/09 12:30
Real Madrid - Osasuna	S-07/10 10:15
Sevilla - Real Madrid	S-21/10 12:30

Calendar

*Data updated to date Sep 30th, 2023