Three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo | La Liga MD15 | OneFootball

After a long month on the road, Real Madrid finally return to the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night to lock horns against Celta Vigo in La Liga.

The spell away from home was anything but memorable for Los Blancos as it began with a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool and was followed by three successive draws in La Liga against Rayo Vallecano (0-0), Elche (2-2), and Girona (1-1).

The last game before returning home, however, saw them register a 3-0 win over Athletic Club.

Tomorrow, the men in white will look to continue making amends to the steep fall they experienced in the league standings and will have to take all three points if they are to even hope of overtaking Barcelona.

Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo.

A fresh defensive problem

Real Madrid may well have taken all three points against Athletic Club midweek, but the game brought with it complications that Xabi Alonso will rue ahead of a crucial part of the season.

The big blow that Los Blancos suffered on the night was the injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who seemingly was just finding his way to establishing himself as a valuable player under Xabi Alonso.

The setback to the new signing leaves him ruled out of action for at least two months, while Dani Carvajal is also not expected to return until late this month or early in January.

As a result of the same, Alonso must again look to an unconventional option and all signs point to Federico Valverde playing as Real Madrid’s right-back against Celta.

Real Madrid have some big games coming up in the next few weeks, and the manager will need the midfielder to do a good job playing in the new position – just as he did earlier in the season.

New-look Vinicius

All is well with Vini again. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Xabi Alonso has seemingly found Vinicius Jr.’s best position on the field and even openly spoke about the importance of handing the Brazilian star a role he enjoyed. After all, the 25-year-old has been inspiring in Real Madrid’s last three games.

Vinicius racked up a brace of assists in the team’s game against Olympiacos and began to unlock the freedom that has defined him over the years.

Against Girona, he did not hold back in attacking at goal and formed a lethal partnership with Kylian Mbappe despite the game ending in a draw. In fact, he won the penalty that led to the only goal on the night.

Most recently, he shone vs Athletic club at San Mames and continued his good run of form, and all that appears to be missing is a goal.

After a relatively rough start to the season, the winger is finally enjoying his football once again in what comes as a massive relief to Real Madrid’s administration and management. The goal, however, is to make him the lethal goalscoring threat he was not too long ago.

Now given the freedom to play as a second attacker alongside Mbappe, Vinicius will see far more of the goal and all eyes will be on him to see if he can complete his transformation and turn his season around.

Eyes on the midweek clash

As important as Real Madrid’s game against Celta Vigo at the weekend is in terms of the league standing and catching Barcelona on that front, it is safe to say that Xabi Alonso and Co. will have one eye firmly fixed on the game coming up midweek.

After all, the men in white are set to play host to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League next week in a fixture that has almost become a routine part of Real Madrid’s season now.

Having been out of form over the past month, the game provides the right stage for Los Blancos to announce their return to being a devastating force, but the Sky Blues will be no easy opposition either.

In preparation for the same, Alonso may well decide to rotate his squad to a minor extent tomorrow – especially given Real Madrid’s solid record against the Galicians over the years.

Not many changes are expected at the back, but one can expect the likes of Dani Ceballos and Brahim Diaz to possibly get more minutes with names like Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni good candidates to merit some rest.

Rotations, after all, are crucial at this point in the season.