Courtois, Tchouameni start in a 4-3-3 – How Real Madrid can line up against Barcelona | OneFootball

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona square off tonight at the Spotify Camp Nou in a game that could see the latter get crowned as La Liga champions.

Indeed, Barça only need one point from tonight’s El Clasico to be confirmed as the title-winners – a scenario that Real Madrid will be looking to avoid.

With nothing but pride left to play for, Alvaro Arbeloa & co. will want to return victorious from Catalonia, especially given all the negativity surrounding the club at the moment after the training ground incident involving Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni.

Real Madrid go into the game with several notable absentees as Arda Guler, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, Rodrygo Goes, and the aforementioned Valverde are all ruled out. Dani Ceballos and Dani Carvajal are also set to miss out.

There is some good news, though, as Thibaut Courtois has fully recovered from his injury, while Kylian Mbappe has also trained with the team and is expected to be available.

With that being said, here is how Real Madrid could line up at the Spotify Camp Nou hoping to delay Barcelona’s title celebrations.

Defence

As mentioned above, Thibaut Courtois is fit again and has trained with the team over the week, paving the way for him to start in goal ahead of Andriy Lunin in the Clasico.

Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold should retain his place on the right side of the Real Madrid defence and will need to be sharp defensively on the night.

On the opposite flank, Arbeloa is expected to go with Fran Garcia over summer signing Alvaro Carreras in the injury-enforced absence of Ferland Mendy.

Antonio Rudiger and Dean Huijsen will pair up at the heart of the Merengues’ defence hoping to thwart Robert Lewandowski.

Midfield

Tchouameni to start as usual. (Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images)

With no sporting sanctions issued by the club for the fight with Valverde, Arbeloa has confirmed that Aurelien Tchouameni will be available for selection, and as such, he is expected to start in his usual role in the middle of the park.

The manager has shown great trust in youngster Thiago Pitarch since taking over and might decide to count on him again in midfield, ahaed of Eduardo Camavinga.

Jude Bellingham, who showed signs of returning to form against Espanyol last week, will be the third midfielder for Real Madrid and will have a major role to play if they are come away with a win.

Attack

With no Federico Valverde available due to his head injury, Brahim Diaz becomes the obvious pick for Real Madrid on the right flank, with the Moroccan expected to feature ahead of Franco Mastantuono.

Vinicius Jr., fresh from scoring a brace against Espanyol, will line up on the left wing, hoping to enjoy another productive night in Catalonia.

Even though Kylian Mbappe has recovered and trained with the team over the past couple of days, thrusting him right into the starting XI could be a risk Arbeloa is unwilling to take.

As such, Gonzalo Garcia should start in the No. 9 role for Real Madrid, hoping to make a big impression in the Clasico.