Real Madrid will visit the Sadar Stadium forced to get a win against last-place Osasuna before focusing on next week’s UEFA Champions League match against Italian side Napoli.
Osasuna will try to make matters difficult for the La Liga leaders as the locals want to take advantage of the fact that the Madrid team has had almost two weeks of stoppage after seeing their last week match (against Celta, in Balaidos) get postponed because a storm ripped off part of the roof of the Vigo stadium.
This is the second postponed game for Real Madrid this season as they also have yet to play a rescheduled game against Valencia. That December game was postponed due to Real’s participation in FIFA’s Club World Cup Championship.
Due to the postponed games second-place Barcelona trail Real Madrid by just one point. Barça will have the opportunity to momentarily take the lead if it wins in Mendizorrotza against Deportivo Alaves.
Zinedine Zidane will try to secure a victory against an opponent that regardless of its situation in the standings usually likes to complicate his team with strong performances at the Sadar and consequently the “Merengues” are not expecting an easy game.
Real Madrid will try to focus solely on their task at hand instead of looking forward to next Wednesday’s match against Napoli for the Champions League. Osasuna will try to take advantage of any slips by Real Madrid as they try to climb out of the relegation zone.
The only benefit that the stoppage has provided for Zidane is the recovery of most of his injured players; many of them part of the first team. The only starter still receiving medical treatment is Welshman Gareth Bale, who’s almost completely healed from the ankle injury he suffered last November in a Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon.
Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Pepe and James Rodriguez, are all now available for Zidane as he tries to decide which players he should rest for the match against Napoli.
Toni Kroos will miss the match for seeing his fifth yellow card in the win against Real Sociedad. If Modric rests, the candidates to join the midfield of Casemiro and Kovacic will be Isco or James Rodriguez.
Alvaro Morata could join the starting eleven, not only because he is more suited for the kind of match that Zidane expects, but also because Karim Benzema could be rested ahead of the Champions League game.
Osasuna still has not given fans much reason to celebrate this season, but the Real Madrid visits always bring a lot of expectation as the team usually gives them gutsy performances against the “Blancos”.
In the last two visits to the Sadar Stadium Zidane’s men have been held to two frustrating draws (2-2 and 0-0). The local team usually receives a lot of encouragement for this game from its fans, who fill the stadium to watch their team squaring off against one of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Lines for the game:
Real Madrid: -430 Osasuna: +850 Draw: +355
