Real Madrid will be bidding to strengthen their grip on first position in the La Liga table when they welcome Getafe to Bernabeu on Saturday night.
Los Blancos are currently top of the pile, 12 points clear of second-placed Barcelona, while Getafe occupy 14th position, six points clear of the relegation zone with eight games left.
Match preview
Real Madrid took a huge step towards the semi-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday night when they recorded a 3-1 victory over Chelsea in the first leg of their quarter-final, with Karim Benzema scoring an excellent hat trick for the capital giants at Stamford Bridge.
Los Blancos will be looking to finish the job at Bernabeu next week, and they are in a strong position when it comes to the Champions League this season due to the size of their advantage at the top of La Liga.
Indeed, Carlo Ancelotti's side are currently 12 points clear of second-placed Barcelona at the summit, and they managed to recover from the four-goal Clasico defeat before the international break by winning 2-1 at Celta Vigo last weekend, which moved them onto 69 points for the campaign.
Real Madrid are the highest scorers in La Liga this term (69), while they boast the second-best defensive record in the division behind Sevilla, having only conceded 26 times in their 30 matches.
The Whites also have the best home record in La Liga this season, picking up 34 points from their 15 matches, but they have only picked up one point from their last two league games with Getafe and suffered a 1-0 loss in the reverse match between the two sides earlier this term.
Getafe, meanwhile, will enter the match off the back of a 1-0 win over Mallorca last weekend, with Borja Mayoral netting the only goal of the match in the 82nd minute.
Quique Sanchez Flores's side have only lost one of their last six league matches, drawing four times in the process, and a total of 32 points from 30 games has left them in 14th spot in the table, six points ahead of the relegation zone with eight matches left.
Getafe finished eighth, fifth and eighth in Spain's top flight between 2018 and 2020 before claiming 15th last term, and it has been another difficult campaign for the capital outfit.
The Deep Blue Ones should have enough credit in the bank to avoid being pulled into relegation trouble at this stage, but they have not won a single away game in La Liga this season and have not beaten Real Madrid at Bernabeu in the league since February 2008.
The visitors will certainly be the fresher of the two teams heading into this match, though, and will hope that Real Madrid have one eye on next week's Champions League quarter-final second leg with Chelsea.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
- L
- D
Team News
Real Madrid defender Eder Militao has been cleared to play despite suffering a knock against Chelsea, but the Brazilian is suspended for the second leg against the Blues next week, so Ancelotti could decide to select Nacho here, as the Spaniard is likely to be required for the quarter-final second leg.
Eden Hazard, Isco and Luka Jovic remain on the sidelines through injury, while Ferland Mendy has also been left out of the squad, so Marcelo could come in for a start.
Ancelotti is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes from Wednesday night, but Lucas Vazquez, Nacho, Eduardo Camavinga and Marco Asensio could all come into the side, with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos potentially being rested ahead of the second leg with Chelsea.
As for Getafe, Sabit Abdulai remains out with a knee injury, while Mauro Arambarri will be unavailable for selection this weekend due to a suspension.
Jaime Mata could potentially recover from injury, though, and Jorge Cuenca and Jakub Jankto are both available once again following suspensions of their own.
Sandro Ramirez and Enes Unal are likely to feature as the front two in a 3-5-2 formation, and Arambarri's absence could open the door for Gonzalo Villar to start in central midfield.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Vazquez, Nacho, Alaba, Marcelo; Valverde, Casemiro, Camavinga; Asensio, Benzema, Vinicius
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Dakonam, Cuenca, Mitrovic; Suarez, Alena, Villar, Maksimovic, Olivera; Unal, Sandro
We say: Real Madrid 2-1 Getafe
Real Madrid have breathing space at the top of La Liga, but they will be determined to keep winning to hold off the threat of an emerging Barcelona side. Getafe are capable of making it difficult for Los Blancos, but we are expecting Ancelotti's side to secure all three points on Saturday night.
Top tip
body check tags ::
Previews by email
