Real Madrid is set to meet bitter rival FC Barcelona at MetLife stadium on Saturday, with Los … [+]
Bitter rivals Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are set to meet at MetLife stadium on Saturday, with Los Blancos head coach Carlo Ancelotti giving hints of what his starting XI would be in the last training session before the preseason friendly.
On the US tour’s debut earlier this week, which was a 1-0 defeat to his former club AC Milan at the Chicago Bears’ Soldier Field, Ancelotti handed Endrick his debut and went with a front line consisting of the Brazilian teenager as a striker flanked by Brahim Diaz and Arda Guler.
It was thought that Rodrygo, who joined the tour late on August 31, would take Guler’s place this time round but that hasn’t proven to be true as Ancelotti goes for the same attacking trio.
In midfield, captain Luka Modric, Dani Ceballos, and Mario Martin hold the fort.
As for the defence, Ancelotti tested a team that had Eder Militao starting at center back alongside Antonio Rudiger, with Fran Garcia and Lucas Vazquez the left and right backs respectively, and this is the approach the Italian has gone for against Barca.
Thibaut Courtois will be the goalkeeper, at a time when Andriy Lunin could still leave the club in the ongoing transfer window given his discontent with being replaced by the Belgian upon his return from an ACL injury earlier in the spring.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal are still on holiday following their exploits at the Euros, but one further surprise joining the squad is Vinicius Jr.
While those mentioned players got to at least the semifinals or final with their countries at the European tournament, Vinicius’ Brazil suffered a disappointing quarterfinal penalty shootout loss to Uruguay in the US with the Ballon d’Or hopeful unable to play the fixture because of a suspension picked up against eventual finalists Colombia in the group stage.
As ‘Vini’ has been with the squad less than 24 hours, though, he looks set for the bench and will not start against a team that was rocked by his first half, 30-minute hat trick in the Spanish Super Cup final at the turn of the year.
Real Madrid Starting XI Vs. FC Barcelona: Courtois; Fran, Rudiger, Militao, Vazquez; Ceballos, Modric, Mario Martin; Brahim, Endrick, Arda
Around an hour before kick off, FC Barcelona shared its starting line up on social media, reproduced below.
After initial scares the match could be called off because of bad weather, it was given the green light to go ahead as originally scheduled.