Real Madrid resumes the League tomorrow, Sunday at the Alfonso Pérez Coliseum against Getafe with their minds already set on the classic on October 16 at the Bernabeu. The white team goes to Getafe without two of its main pillars: Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois, both off the list due to physical problems. Neither is Dani Ceballos available, who will still be out for several weeks.
The French striker, recently recovered from injury, is basically not playing as a precaution, to rest him. Ancelotti explained at a press conference yesterday, Friday, that Benzema is muscularly loaded and prefers him to stop and get ready for next week's commitments; on Tuesday against Shakhtar in Warsaw, where Madrid would close qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League with a win, and above all the match against Barcelona the following Sunday at the Bernabeu. Benzema missed the last classic in Chamartín and the result could not have been more conclusive: 0-4.
In the goalkeeper's case, Courtois continues to suffer from sciatica that has prevented him from playing the last two games. Ancelotti commented that the Belgian has an inflammation and that he hopes to recover it to play against Barcelona. This will see Lunin play his third match in a row, something totally unusual for the Ukrainian.
Precisely improving defensive solvency is what Ancelotti has asked his players for tomorrow's game. Madrid have conceded goals in all games so far (except in the European Super Cup). Ancelotti does not believe that his team defends worse than last season and understands that this is going in gusts: "I don't think it is because of the arrival of the new ones. We have a very strong defense both individually and collectively. It is true that not always we have been compact and we have lost duels. It is not a relaxation, they are things that happen", commented.
The good news for Madrid is the return of Luka Modric, who was already on the list against Shakhtar but did not play. Tomorrow he is expected in a starting eleven in which there may be other breaks, such as Alaba or Tchouméni. Valverde is considered essential and to replace Benzema everything points to the number nine being Rodrygo. Hazard and especially Marco Asensio are the other options.
Getafe reaches the match fourteenth in the table. It is a team that has been very inconsistent throughout the season so far and that faces the game with the doubt of whether Quique Sánchez Flores will be able to count on players with injuries, such as Arambarri, Maskimovic, Seoane or Portu.
In his previous press conference, in this case held on Thursday, Sánchez Flores did not want to give up on the injured: "We don't know how each one will arrive in their evolution process."
Getafe is a team that Madrid is usually good at, but they already beat them last season at the Coliseum (1-0). The Madrid coach of the azulones does not sign the tie: "I do not sign it. When I am analyzing the matches, sometimes I smile because I find keys that give me clues to make the matches better. Sometimes it comes out and other times it does not, but that illusion that I have every time I face an analysis it's not about drawing or losing, but about winning and that ambition to win and compete is what we always try to convey. That's my reading of this profession".
In his appearance, Sánchez Flores praised Ancelotti very significantly: "I have liked Real Madrid for a long time. They are balanced in their decisions and in the composition of their squads. When they win so many important competitions, it is not by chance. They have a great balance between youth and expert players; a lot of energy, essential in today's football, and quality is taken for granted. Beyond the individualities, Madrid has made a team within a big club and that is the most successful thing. In that it has a lot to see the coach", he sentenced.
