Real Madrid predicted starting XI against Real Sociedad | La Liga | OneFootball

Real Madrid take on Real Sociedad on Wednesday night in their first home match of the 2026-27 season. Jose Mourinho’s won their opening fixture against Espanyol at the weekend, and they will be hoping to make it two victories from two when the previous campaign’s Copa del Rey winners come to town.

With three matches in eight days, it will be no surprise to see Mourinho make a number of changes for the match against La Real, although Sunday’s visit of Malaga is likely to be more of an opportunity for the Portuguese to use his squad.

Nevertheless, Marca say no less than four changes will be made from the win in Catalonia last weekend, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Antonio Rudiger, Marc Cucurella and Eduardo Camavinga all in line to start against La Real. All four were on the bench at the RCDE Stadium, but they are due to replace Denzel Dumfries, Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras and Bernardo Silva in the XI.

Real Madrid’s expected line-up in full

Thibaut Courtois will almost certainly remain as the starting goalkeeper, with Andriy Lunin on the bench as his backup. In defence, Trent and Cucurella would line-up at right-back and left-back respectively, flanking the central defensive pair of Ibrahima Konate and Rudiger.

In midfield, captain Federico Valverde would partner Camavinga, with Jude Bellingham playing slightly ahead as a number 10. Arda Guler would keep his place on the right side of attack after an impressive performance against Espanyol, with Vinicius Junior on the left and Kylian Mbappe through the middle – this would mean Carlos Espi stays on the bench, despite scoring the winner at the weekend.

As far as teams go, it will be a strong one that Mourinho names. It makes sense to rest Dumfries and Silva in particular as they are not yet up to speed after returning to Valdebebas for pre-season later than their teammates, while Rudiger and Cucurella are likely to be regular starters in their respective positions throughout the campaign.

It remains to be seen whether Mourinho can coach a win in his first home match as Real Madrid head coach in over 13 years, although he will have the tools to do so.