PREVIEW: Real Madrid seek form against Monaco in Champions League clash tie | OneFootball

Real Madrid side welcome a Monaco side to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, who will be looking to improve their Champions League campaign to solidify their chances of staying in the knock-out phase play-offs.

It has been a difficult week for Los Blancos: losing the ‘Supercopa’ final 3-2 to arch-rivals Barcelona a week ago, manager Xabi Alonso being sacked the day after, and getting booted out of the Copa Del Rey to second division side Albacete in another 3-2 defeat.

However, they did win their last game against Levante 2-0, with the goals coming from in-form striker Kylian Mbappe and defender Raul Asencio, leaving them 2nd in the La Liga table, just one point behind leaders Barcelona.

In neighbouring France, Monaco has been having a disappointing season by their standards, with their last league win coming in October against Nantes and their previous win overall in the French Cup against US Orleans last week.

They are coming off another loss in Ligue 1, 3-1 to Lorient, with the scorer being former Barcelona winger Ansu Fati. This leaves Monaco 9th in Ligue 1, 12 points off 3rd.

In terms of their UEFA Champions League campaigns, Real Madrid are in the automatic knockout spots, sitting 7th, joint points with Liverpool, who are in the knockout phase play-off spots. Hence, Madrid needs a win to further their chances of qualifying automatically for the knockout phase.

Their last game was a 2-1 home loss to Manchester City on December 10th, so Arbeloa will be looking to improve that result in his first Champions League game.

Monaco currently sits 19th in the Champions League table, but with Benfica, who are outside the play-off spots, just 3 points behind them, Monaco will be desperate to pull off an upset in Spain.

Their last Champions League game resulted in a 1-0 home win against Galatasaray, with Folarin Balogun scoring the only goal.

Real Madrid welcomed back seasoned veteran Carvajal in the loss against Albacete, and with no fresh injuries in the game against Levante, Arbeloa will have a firm XI.

However, Rodrygo and Rudiger trained separately on Sunday so that they might be questionable for Tuesday’s tie – and Los Blancos also have a defensive injury crisis, with Alexander-Arnold, Mendy and Militao still out.

Monaco has a lot more players out through injury – including former Liverpool winger Takumi Minamino and former Leverkusen goalkeeper Lucas Hradecky.

Their most notable loss will be World Cup winner and former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, who sustained a calf injury in training and has been out since December 12th.

The Monaco CEO said that “the plan isn’t working out” after acquiring Paul Pogba as a free agent following his doping ban, which was lifted in 2025. Pogba has not hit the ground running, and his return to football has been littered with injury and fitness issues.

It will be an emotional game for Kylian Mbappe, who played for Monaco and won Ligue 1 with them in a famous campaign that included the league and the Champions League.

However, he will be looking to carry on a stellar season, already scoring 30 goals in all competitions, including 9 in the Champions League.

Monaco’s star player is Ansu Fati, who has shone in an otherwise difficult season for Monaco. He has scored 7 goals in all competitions as he looks to return to his form at the beginning of his career.

The Champions League clash will be available on TNT Sports 2 for viewers in the UK.