(Football news) Real Madrid take on RB Leipzig away from home to try and keep their unbeaten run in all competitions intact. Los Blancos have already secured qualification to the Round of 16. A win against Leipzig will guarantee the top spot in the group for the defending champions. Real Madrid won the La Liga and the Champions League last season but the start of this season has been something different. Carlo Ancelotti has got this squad playing some really good football as they have won 14, drawn 2 and lost 0 games this season. The one drawback of Real Madrid was that they were perhaps over reliant on Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois, this time around Real Madrid are winning even without them.
Karim Benzema has still not recovered from his injury but he is expected to be back at the weekend. Dani Ceballos is back training on the pitch but Ancelotti confirmed that he will be back at the weekend. Fede Valverde suffered an injury after a brutal tackle by Alejandro Gomez. It isn't a serious one and the Uruguayan is expected to be back on against Girona. Luka Modric was initially a part of the squad but was withdrawn due to muscle discomfort which is a precautionary measure. This is a good opportunity for some of the bench players like Marco Asensio and Eduardo Camavinga. Castilla players Sergio Arribas, Alvaro Rodriguez and Carlos Dotor have been called up to the first team.
Leipzig on the other hand will be missing Lukas Klostermann, Marcel Halstenberg, Konrad Laimer and Peter Gulacsi. A win for Leipzig will secure them a place in the Round of 16. Marco Rose's side are in good form having won 5 and drawn 2 of their last 7 games. Real Madrid will be a very tough challenge even though they are missing 3 key players. Christopher Nkunku will be the key for Leipzig in attack and his team will have to find a way to get him involved because Real Madrid will look to dominate the midfield. Defensively the German side's main job will be to keep Vinicius Jr quiet which is something that no team these days seems to have the capability of doing.
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