Real Madrid’s possible XI vs Real Sociedad in LaLiga on Sunday

Real Madrid welcome Real Sociedad to the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday night. Carlo Ancelotti is missing five players for the tricky fixture against a strong La Real side. Lucas Vázquez, David Alaba, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy and Aurélien Tchouaméni will all miss the clash. Four of the five absentees are defenders, which means that Carletto will have some reorganising to do.

In goal, as always, will be Thibaut Courtois. Nacho will be at right-back, with Eder Militao and Antonio Rüdiger at centre-back and Eduardo Camavinga will come in at left-back to replace the injured Ferland Mendy. Camavinga, a natural midfielder, already showed at the World Cup in Qatar that he can perform very well as a left-back and he did it again in the derby against Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey, performing at a high level. The only two defenders on the bench will be Álvaro Odriozola and Jesús Vallejo.

Ceballos back to his best

In midfield, Luka Modric looks set to start the game on the bench and the starting trio in midfield will be Fede Valverde, Toni Kroos and Dani Ceballos. The Uruguayan is still far from his best, but Ancelotti is not giving up on him. Ceballos is currently Madrid’s most in-form midfielder and is likely to get another chance in the engine room.

And in attack, Rodrygo will return to the right wing after his stunning solo goal against Atleti. The Brazilian was substituted during the Villarreal-Madrid Copa del Rey match and experienced an unpleasant situation with Ancelotti, who was disappointed with him for ignoring the Italian coach after being substituted. That was followed by two consecutive starts on the bench, against Athletic Club and Atleti, but Rodrygo solved the issue in the derby and has earned a return to the starting eleven, where he will be supported in attack by Vinícius and Karim Benzema.

On the bench, in addition to Vallejo and Odriozola, will be goalkeepers Lunin and Luis López, midfielders Modric and Mario Martín and forwards Marco Asensio, Eden Hazard and Mariano Díaz. The Croatian remains the main man to turn the game around if it doesn’t go Ancelotti’s way.

Real Madrid’s starting XI against Real Sociedad

Courtois; Nacho, Militao, Rüdiger, Camavinga; Valverde, Kroos, Ceballos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinícius.