Real Madrid will travel to Liverpool today, Monday, where they will play tomorrow Tuesday at Anfield in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, with the presence of Karim Benzema in the squad. Madrid’s starting center forward rested in the whites’ last league match, on Saturday at Sadar against Osasuna.
The bad news for Carlo Ancelotti’s men is that two regular starters have not been able to enter the squad: Toni Kroos and Tchouaméni, although it is true that in recent games they have been playing little. Camavinga has two games as a defensive midfielder in the eleven.
Kroos has not recovered from a flu condition that affected his stomach for more than a week. Tchouaméni also has the flu. He entered the list for the game against Osasuna on Friday, but fell off the list on Saturday morning.
Ancelotti takes 23 players to England, including four Castilla players. The one who has aroused the most expectation is the 18-year-old Uruguayan striker Álvaro Rodríguez, who made his Sadar debut, played five minutes and gave two assists, although one of the goals was disallowed for offside.
The other three Castilla players are Mario Martín, Sergio Arribas and the goalkeeper Luis López, usually the third goalkeeper. Arribas, 21, played in the Club World Cup semifinal and scored 28 seconds after being on the pitch. He is an attacking midfielder who aspires to gradually play in Modric’s position. Mario Martín, 18, is another Castilla midfielder who made his debut with the first team entering the 115th minute of the recent cup derby against Atlético at the Bernabeu.
