Predicted XIs Real Madrid-Celta Vigo: Carlo Ancelotti lining up several changes again

Real Madrid take on Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday evening, as they look to keep their outside chances of retaining their La Liga crown alive.

Last weekend’s victory over Cadiz, coupled with Barcelona’s disappointing draw away to Getafe, has reduced the deficit between the two sides to 11 points, with nine games remaining. Real Madrid would close the gap further to eight points with a win on Saturday.

22 days into April, the match against Celta Vigo will be Real Madrid’s seventh of the month already, and with two more to come midweek and next weekend, Carlo Ancelotti looks set to once again rotate his side.

Ancelotti, who complained about Real Madrid’s hectic schedule on Friday, is expected to recall Lucas Vazquez, Nacho Fernandez, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio to the starting line-up, according to Sport. Interestingly, they expect Vinicius Junior to be rested, with Rodrygo starting on the left wing, much like against Cadiz last Saturday.

On the other hand, Marca believe that Vinicius will start, with Asensio instead replacing Federico Valverde in the XI. Karim Benzema is set to start an eight successive match for Real Madrid, and he will hope that his fitness issues for this season are behind him.

After an excellent start to 2023, Celta have wobbled of late, and are now winless in their last three matches. They head to the Spanish capital looking to reclaim their place in the top half of the La Liga table, but they will be without Hugo Mallo, who was sent off against Mallorca last week. On top of that, Joseph Aidoo and Carles Perez will also miss the match, having suffered muscle injuries this week.

Real Madrid have been in good form of late, winning seven of their last nine matches in all competitions, and they will look to make it eight against Celta Vigo on Saturday evening.