Villarreal vs Real Madrid: Three key battles to keep an eye on | OneFootball

After a gruelling 210 minutes of intense football and a nerve-wracking penalty shoot-out, Real Madrid were finally able to get the better of Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie and make their way to the quarter-finals of the competition.

While the Merengues emerged victorious in the tie with the shoot-out, there was no change in the fortunes of the White team while playing away from home, as they lost another game in regulation time.

Following this game, Los Blancos have another stern test awaiting them in La Liga, as they face the fifth-placed Villarreal on Saturday. This is another away game, and keeping in view the fact that Real Madrid have not won an away La Liga game since the win 3-0 win over Real Valladolid back in January, there is a real possibility of them dropping points again tonight.

However, there is still no doubt that Carlo Ancelotti has enough star power and talent in his team to get a favourable result from this game. On the other hand, Villarreal also boast a very good squad, that can go toe to toe with the Merengues.

Thus, this tie promises to be a highly exciting affair, but might ultimately be decided by three key battles, which are expected to be as follows:

Kylian Mbappe vs Logan Costa

This battle will see two players who joined their respective clubs in La Liga only in the last summer from Ligue 1 face off against one another. Kylian Mbappe is undoubtedly the more prominent of these two players and will be looking to build upon his scoring outing in the last league game against Rayo Vallecano.

The Frenchman is a contender for the Pichichi title with his 18 goals so far and will be keen to add more goals to this tally to overtake Robert Lewandowski, who has 3 more goals than him.

In this game, he will mostly be facing the 23-year-old centre-back Logan Costa, who has established himself as a clear starter for Marcelino since his arrival last summer. He has already accumulated 18 starts in La Liga, making 1.5 tackles, 3 clearances, and 3.2 ball recoveries on average in each game according to Sofascore, and will be looking to keep the French forward in check.

Jude Bellingham vs Pape Gueye

Jude Bellingham made his return to La Liga after serving a two-game ban in the last match against Rayo Vallecano. Although he was unable to contribute much towards goal creation or scoring in that game, he still contributed a lot to help his team retain control of the ball and ultimately emerge victorious.

Against Villarreal, he will be looking to put in a more glorious performance, one that will hopefully get his name on the scoresheet or the assist sheet, while also helping his team in defence.

However, he will have to battle with the Senegalese midfielder Pape Gueye in this game, who has been a fixed starter for Marcelino since he joined the Yellow Submarines last summer. As Sofascore statistics show, he boasts good defensive numbers, making 1.8 tackles, 1.5 clearances, and 3.8 ball recoveries each league game on average in 20 starts so far, while also having 2 goals to his name.

Alejandro Baena vs Federico Valverde

The Spanish midfielder Alejandro Baena has been in great form for Villarreal recently, and will clearly be one of the biggest threats for Real Madrid in tonight’s game.

According to Sofascore statistics, this season, he has already scored 6 goals and provided 7 assists, while also creating 15 big chances and giving 3.3 key passes on average in each game. He also makes a lot of defensive contributions, recovering 4.6 balls on average in each game.

However, playing against the Merengues, he will be facing another player who has just been as good, if not better, this season. This is none other than Federico Valverde, who has been one of the most utilised and consistent players for Carlo Ancelotti.

The Uruguayan has 5 goals and 3 assists to his name in La Liga so far, but his contributions go significantly beyond just these numbers as he is one of the key drivers of the Real Madrid midfielder, while also performing at a very high level when employed as a right-back.