Real Madrid vs Levante line-ups: Odriozola and Militao start in defence

Real Madrid host Levante on Saturday afternoon at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, where Zinedine Zidane has opted to name Alvaro Odriozola and Eder Militao in his starting line-up.

Zidane himself will not be present at Valdebebas as he is continuing to recover from COVID-19, with assistant David Bettoni in temporary charge again, while this will be Odriozola's first start since September 30 and the first time Militao has started three games in a row since joining Real Madrid in 2019.

There is a bit of an injury crisis in defence for Los Blancos at present, with Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal, Nacho Fernandez and auxiliary right-back Lucas Vazquez all unavailable, in addition to the long-term absences of Fede Valverde and Rodrygo Goes.

Some good news comes in the form of Eden Hazard, who will start his seventh Real Madrid match in a row. Only once before has he been able to do this in his injury-hit year and a half in the Spanish capital.

Levante, meanwhile, are without star midfielder Jose Campana, former Real Madrid Castilla player Jorge de Frutos and Montenegrin midfielder Nikola Vukcevic.

Real Madrid's starting XI: Thibaut Courtois; Alvaro Odriozola, Eder Militao, Raphael Varane, Ferland Mendy; Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric; Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard.

Levante's starting XI: Aitor Fernandez; Jorge Miramon, Sergio Postigo, Oscar Duarte, Carlos Clerc; Jose Luis Morales, Mickael Malsa, Nemanja Radoja, Gonzalo Melero; Roger Marti, Sergio Leon.