Three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs AS Monaco | UEFA Champions League | OneFootball

Having scored their first win after two back-to-back defeats at the weekend, Real Madrid will look to ride the momentum as they prepare for a big game against AS Monaco on Tuesday night.

The team’s last three games have been in three different competitions, and tomorrow night’s will be in a fourth completely different event. Having now been denied silverware in two of those four, the UEFA Champions League becomes a priority.

Los Blancos currently sit in seventh place on the league stage leaderboard with 12 points. There are, however, as many as 15 teams on ten or more points and Real Madrid must win to keep their place in the top-eight safe.

Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of AS Monaco vs Real Madrid.

Fran Garcia’s big chance

Real Madrid enter the game against AS Monaco with absentees from all over the defensive department.

Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao continue to be massive misses in central defence, while Dani Carvajal is the only available natural right-back as Trent Alexander-Arnold is still not fit enough to return from injury.

While most of the aforementioned developments are not new, the Champions League clash sees the manager with only one option at left-back as well – Fran Garcia.

Ferland Mendy’s fitness has been horrendous once more this season, and the Frenchman is ruled out of the game tomorrow. Meanwhile, Alvaro Carreras misses the game through suspension and has been left out of the squad.

Garcia, therefore, is poised for a rare start in the Champions League and it will be a massive chance for him to show Alvaro Arbeloa what he is capable of.

After all, he did have the favour of Xabi Alonso, but the arrival of a new manager means that he too will have to start from scratch and earn his place in the team.

Moreover, with Real Madrid likely to sell one of the existing left-backs in the summer, Garcia has all the more motivation to make his value felt. Tomorrow’s game is a rare and important chance for the Spaniard.

Winning over the Santiago Bernabeu

Real Madrid need to win over the fans at the Bernabeu. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Real Madrid’s run away from the Santiago Bernabeu have not been positive in recent times, but the home stadium is also beginning to feel less like family at this point for Los Blancos.

While November and December’s runs away from home was disastrous for Real Madrid, the Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey fallouts in January came as an even bigger blow to the team’s season.

Unsurprisingly, the men in white were greeted by loud boos during the team’s game against Levante back at the Bernabeu, for the fans made their dissatisfaction with the team’s form very clear on the night.

The likes of Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Federico Valverde were booed more loudly than others, while Kylian Mbappe and Gonzalo Garcia were spared by the public. All in all, however, the relationship between the fans and the players is not promising.

Given the team’s recent run, the supporters cannot be blamed for their reaction and the team must take it up as a sign to wake up and do better. After all, only a convincing performance can help them win back the Bernabeu’s favour once more.

Tomorrow’s game against Monaco, hence, is a massive one for Real Madrid as the team will look to dish out a convincing 90 minutes of football to not only win but make fans feel like the team is back.

Guler’s opportunity

Real Madrid’s first-half against Levante was not anything to brag about, for Los Blancos seemed lost for ideas, creativity and control against the visitors.

At half-time, Alvaro Arbeloa introduced Arda Guler as an option to undo all the wrongs of the first-period and the young Turkish star did not disappoint.

Guler not only played a role in Kylian Mbappe’s penalty sequence that opened the scoring for Real Madrid but also provided the assist for Raul Asencio’s second-goal on the night. The substitute, thus, could not have had a bigger impact.

He was one of the two players who impressed the manager the most on the night, and all signs point to him earning a start against Monaco tomorrow in the UEFA Champions League.

After a bright start to the season under Xabi Alonso, Guler’s prominence was on a gradual decline as the former manager reached his final weeks at the club.

Now, having shown Arbeloa his quality, he will likely have a chance to move back up the pecking order once more. Needless to say, it will be a massive chance for him to earn back a regular starting spot.