Friday, February 17, 2012

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18.02. (Sat) 20:00 Real - Racing Santander

Spain: Real Madrid, Mesut Oezil, Cristiano Ronaldo
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PROBABLE LINEUPS

REAL MADRID


Casillas
Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo
Khedira, Alonso
Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo
Benzema
RACING SANTANDER


TonoAlvaro, Torrejon, Bernardo, Cisma
Diop, Bedia
Arana, Adrian, Acosta
Stuani

Angel Di Maria and Sami Khedira could both be set to resume their roles in the Madrid first team after their recent return from injury, with Gonzalo Higuain and Esteban Granero set to make way.

Marcelo has shrugged off a knock and may be favoured at left-back over Fabio Coentrao, who deputised for the Brazilian during last weekend's 4-2 win over Levante.

While Lassana Diarra sat out of training on Thursday, the French midfielder is said to be fit for Saturday's encounter with Hamit Altintop (calf) the only real injury concern for Jose Mourinho.

Racinghave two major injury concerns going into the game with Manuel Colsa spraining his ankle and unlikely to feature, with Edu Bedia a strong candidate to replace him in midfield.

Jairo Samperio is also struggling for fitness so Lautaro Acosta expected to come into the team, with top scorer Christian Stuani in line to start the game upfront on his own.

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Real Madrid are currently on a run of seven wins on the bounce in La Liga, having not dropped a point since losing to Barcelona in December.
  • Los Blancos could only imagine a 0-0 draw when they met Racing in September, the only league game this campaign where they have shared the spoils with another side.
  • Real possess the two assist leaders in Liga this season with Angel Di Maria setting up 13 goals while Mesut Ozil has assisted 11 strikes.
  • Racing are struggling this season and currently find themselves in the relegation zone, sitting in 18th place.
  • Juanjo Gonzalez' men have picked up only one league win on the road all season, a 2-0 victory over Osasuna on January 15.
  • Christian Stuani is the team's top scorer in the Primera Division, with a total of five goals.
Prediction
With Real Madrid in great form and scoring for fun at the Santiago Bernabeu this season, it is difficult to see anything other than a convincing victory for Jose Mourinho's men, especially with Racing struggling in the relegation zone.
Editor's Prediction
Real Madrid 4-0 Racing