Thiago, Mendy start in a 4-4-2 – How Real Madrid can line up against Manchester City | OneFootball

Real Madrid will face one of their toughest tests of the season tonight as they take on Manchester City in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

Having already lost once to the Cityzens during the season in the league phase, Los Blancos will be aiming to end up on the right side of the result this time around, hoping to take an advantage heading into the second leg at Etihad.

Real Madrid head into the game on the back of a last-gasp 2-1 win over Celta Vigo in La Liga. Meanwhile, Manchester City beat Newcastle United 3-1 in the FA Cup in their previous match and will be in confident mood ahead of the contest at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid will also have to contend with the many absences in the squad, starting with Kylian Mbappe, who is dealing with a knee injury. Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo Goes, Eder Militao, Alvaro Carreras, Dani Ceballos, and David Alaba also miss out.

But Franco Mastantuono and Dean Huijsen will be back after missing the last game due to suspension, while Eduardo Camavinga is set to be available too.

With that in mind, here’s how Alvaro Arbeloa could set his team up against Pep Guardiola’s side at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Defence

Thibaut Courtois will start in goal for Real Madrid and will once again have a major role to play if his team are to come away with a positive outcome against the Premier League giants.

Meanwhile, the centre-back pairing of Antonio Rudiger and Raul Asencio is expected to start once again despite the availability of Dean Huijsen, whose recent performances have not been good enough.

Ferland Mendy made his first appearance under Arbeloa last week against Celta Vigo, and put in a solid performance at left-back. With Alvaro Carreras unavailable, the experienced Frenchman is expected to get the nod again tonight.

Ferland Mendy set for back-to-back starts. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Trent Alexander-Arnold will be starting at right-back, having firmly established himself as the preferred starter ahead of captain Dani Carvajal.

Midfield

Arbeloa has stuck by the midfield line of four in recent weeks, with it giving the team more of a solid structure, and there will be no changes to the setup against Manchester City.

Federico Valverde, who will captain the team, will slot in on the right flank, while Arda Guler and Aurelien Tchouameni will operate centrally. The former will be in charge of providing the creative support to the forwards.

On the left flank, despite the return of Eduardo Camavinga, teenage prodigy Thiago Pitarch, who has started in the last two games and impressed heavily, should get a third consecutive starting opportunity.

Attack

With no Kylian Mbappe and Rodrygo, Gonzalo Garcia is expected to start in attack, replacing Brahim Diaz, who got a rare chance against Celta Vigo last week.

However, it will be Vinicius Jr. who will have to carry the burden of leading Real Madrid’s charge against Manchester City at the Bernabeu.