Real Madrid will entertain Dinamo Zagreb at home after a thrilling away win against Valencia, Real Madrid are yet to concede a goal in the Champions League after having played 4 games.
The game is inconsequential because the home side are already through to the round of 16 but it is very important to finish as group leaders.
Di Maria is suffering with a knee problem and will certainly miss this game, Mourinho is expected to start with his usual line-up. Fans who are expecting to see fringe players may not get joy upon seeing the starting line-up.
Ricardo Carvalho will also miss this game because of an injury, Sergio Ramos is expected to fill in the shoes of the Portuguese.
Marcelo should retain his place in spite of making blunders against Valencia, Benzema who scored a fine goal in the last game may not start tonight. Higuain is expected to start ahead of Benzema, Mourinho always faces this selection dilemma.
Josip Simunic has a calf problem and will certainly miss the game for Zagreb, there is more bad news for the away side. Ivan Kelava is also expected to be sidelined because of a persistent knee problem, Filip Loncaric is expected to replace Kelava.
Real Madrid won 1-0 when the two sides met last time, Di Maria scored the solitary goal for Real Madrid but the scoreline was not a fair reflection of the game, Real Madrid created several good opportunities but failed to score more goals.
Zagreb have played 4 games thus far and lost all 4 of them, they have absolutely no chance of making it through to the next round but teams who play for pride are more than capable of upsetting the apple cart and the same may happen tonight should Real Madrid fail to take the game to Zagreb.
Good write up. Marcelo however won't be playing tonight. I know for sure we'll win but we'll suffer a bit since there will be some changes which I expect that it will shake up our style a bit. Overall this is the team I expect Mou to field tonight: Iker, Ramos, Albiol, Varane, Coentrao, Sahin, Lass, CR, Ozil, Benzema and Higuain. I also think we'll see Altintop, Callejon and Granero all getting some minutes.
Hi, I think Marcelo will start tonight.
Marcelo is not on the list of players who have been called for the game. :-)
Goal keepers: Casillas, Adán y Mejías. -- I've read somewhere that Adán would actually start the game.
Defenders: Ramos, Varane, Pepe, Albiol y Coentrão. --Arbeloa, Marcelo and Carvalho are injured.
Midfielders: Özil, Sahin, Xabi Alonso, Altintop, Callejón, Lass, Granero y Khedira.
Strikers: Cristiano Ronaldo, Higuaín y Benzema. --Although it seems like Ronaldo won't be playing, or starting anyway.
I was hoping we'd see players who don't normally get playing time, but as Apakshit said, Mourinho is determined to come out of this phase as leaders of the group, so... we'll see what line-up and substitutions he has in store for us. I hope there will be a few surprises, and I hope Varane plays! (yeah, I know, broken record!)
