Real Madrid today seeks mathematical classification for the knockout stages of the Champions League with a victory in Warsaw against Shakhtar Donetsk. If Madrid win and Leipzig don't at Glasgow's Celtic Park, the Whites would also seal the top spot in the group with two games to go.
Ancelotti plans tonight's game on Tuesday at the Legia stadium, also thinking of Sunday's classic at the Bernabeu. He already did it on Saturday at the Getafe Coliseum. Today Benzema, Kroos and Mendy, who rested against the azulones, return to the eleven. Vinicius is doubtful. Although he is the most unbalanced player in Madrid, he has played everything so far this season and Ancelotti said yesterday at the press conference that he is evaluating whether he needs rest.
Vinícius is the player in the Real Madrid squad who has accumulated the most minutes, with a total of 1,046, spread over twelve games in which he was always a starter, scoring seven goals and playing six of them in full.
Real Madrid's biggest concern right now is the sharp drop in its goalscoring performance. In the last three games he has scored four goals. And that despite having had many occasions. Against Shakhtar, on Wednesday he got to shoot on goal 36 times.
If many rotations are expected in Madrid, this is not the case in the Ukrainian team, which will play with practically the same ones that played at the Bernabeu six days ago. Shakhtar is now second in the group, with four points, although in the event of a defeat Leipzig could overtake them, who will once again face bottom club Celtic.
Shakhtar's coach, the Croatian Igor Jovicevic, who spent time at Castilla, spoke of his team's difficult situation due to the war: "Fatigue is high due to the bus trip to Warsaw. My players hardly have days off. The preparation is not the same as the others, but we have to be strong and show the world that we are young, but with ambition. It is a cruel situation, it is not just football, we talk about life. We need help to end this war " , he said at a press conference in Warsaw.
The Legia field has sold 30,000 tickets for days. The majority will be Ukrainian refugees in Poland, but there will also be Madrid fans who have traveled from different parts of central Europe.
