Real Madrid vs Leganes: Match preview | OneFootball

Real Madrid hit the ground running in the final and most important stretch of the season as they return to La Liga against Leganes after the international break. Los Pepineros visit the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on matchday 29 of the competition as Los Merengues will look to secure three more points as they look to defend their league crown come the end of the season.

Before the international break, an exhausted Madrid side defeated Villarreal 2-1 away from home, courtesy of Kylian Mbappe’s brace whereas Leganes were beaten 3-2 by Real Betis in a five-goal thriller at the Municipal de Butarque. On paper, Carlo Ancelotti’s men should be the comfortable favourites to win Saturday’s clash considering their opponents are in the relegation zone.

Los Blancos are set to be without Dani Carvajal, Dani Ceballos, Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy, who are all absent owing to injuries, while Thibaut Courtois has been left out of the squad as well due to muscular discomfort.

Ancelotti could make a few rotations to his starting eleven with next week’s Copa del Rey semi-final in mind, as well as the fact that the South Americans have only trained once since returning from international duty.

Meanwhile, Leganes will be without Borna Barisic and Enric Franquesa, who are both recovering from ACL tears. Yven Neyou Noupa is also doubtful because of a muscular issue.

The visiting team’s offensive threat comes through Daniel Raba, who has scored five times and assisted four goals this season in the league. With only one win in their last five games, Leganes could take a very defensive approach to the game.

The two teams have already met a couple of times in the ongoing campaign, once in La Liga and once in the Copa del Rey quarter-final. Real Madrid emerged victors on both occasions at the Butarque as they claimed a 3-0 success in the Spanish top-flight and a 3-2 result in the cup.

An interesting outing is set to ensue and Real will hope to pick up three more points as they look to stay hot on Barcelona’s heels in the title race.