Overview
The 2024-2025 season is expected to be difficult for Real Madrid after midfielder Toni Kroos announced his retirement. Furthermore, Los Blancos' attack has not found a common voice with the appearance of Kylian Mbappe. However, despite these difficulties, coach Carlo Ancelotti's team is still having a series of positive results.
The "White Vultures" successfully started their Champions League campaign by defeating Stuttgart 3-1. So far, they are still unbeaten in the 2024-2025 season in all competitions. The last time Real Madrid lost at home was in April 2023. Since then, they have been unbeaten in 21 consecutive matches at the Bernabeu (W17, D4).
However, Real still needs to improve their performance in La Liga, with only 11 points after 5 rounds. A victory against Espanyol is a must for the Bernabeu team to continue chasing Barcelona on the rankings.
On the other side of the front line, Espanyol have had a good record after their first 5 matches in La Liga, with 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. Their defense is also performing well, having only conceded a total of 5 goals.
However, that is not enough for Espanyol to hope for a miracle in their away match at Real Madrid. Remember, in their last 2 visits to Bernabeu, they have conceded 7 goals.
Furthermore, Espanyol have not been playing well away from home recently. They have only won 1 of their last 10 away matches. Therefore, Espanyol will find it difficult to avoid a defeat in the match of round 6 of La Liga.
Human resources situation
Real Madrid have four players who cannot participate in the match against Espanyol due to injury, including Dani Ceballos, David Alaba, Brahim Diaz and Eduardo Camavinga.
On the other side of the front line, Espanyol will be without Fernando Calero and Edu Esposito due to injury.
Expected lineup:
Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy, Valverde, Modric, Guler, Rodrygo, Vinicius, Mbappe.
Espanyol: Garcia, Romero, Cabrera, Kumbulla, El Hilali, Carreras, Aguado, Kral, Tejero, Veliz, Puado.
The match between Real Madrid and Espanyol takes place at 2:00 a.m. on September 22 (Vietnam time).
