Real Madrid face a trip to Alaves on Saturday as they look to temporarily at least move clear at the top of the La Liga table.
Zinedine Zidane’s men currently sit joint top alongside rivals Barcelona on 28 points after 13 games, while the chasing pack of Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and others aren’t too far behind.
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In turn, they’ll be desperate to avoid any slip-ups this weekend, as they look to overcome the disappointment of surrendering a lead and being held by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in midweek.
With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Zidane has named a strong starting XI, although the decision to leave both Federico Valverde and Luka Jovic on the bench hasn’t gone down particularly well based on the tweets below.
Valverde, 21, has emerged as a key figure for Los Blancos so far this season, making 12 appearances in all competitions while scoring two goals and providing two assists.
However, he misses out with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos getting the nod in midfield, while Jovic’s lack of playing time continues as the summer signing is named on the bench again as he so often has been this season.
Time will tell if Zidane has got his selections right as ultimately the three points are all that matter to Real Madrid, but looking at his XI with the likes of Gareth Bale, Isco, Karim Benzema and others being included, he will surely still be confident about having enough quality in the side to get the right result.