Real Madrid makes their first trip to the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero in 24 years to face an Elche side still chasing their first win of the season.
Elche vs. Real Madrid: Preview and TV schedule
Real Madrid travels down to the Mediterranean coast for their first meeting on the season with newly promoted Elche.
Gareth Bale's thigh continues to be a major storyline for Los Blancos as their world record signing will again miss out after tweaking a muscle while warming up on Sunday. Carlo Ancelotti will likely press Angel Di Maria back into action on the right wing but with El Derbi madrileño looming on Saturday, he'll likely want to try and rest a few players.
Luka Modrić, Jesé Rodríguez and Álvaro Morata could all feature but injuries have eroded much of Ancelotti's depth so his he'll likely have no choice but to keep on trucking through this extremely busy part of the schedule.
If there was ever a time for Elche to pull off a massive upset or at least steal a point, this might be it. Then again, Madrid should have more than enough quality to see off Los Franjiverdes.
Elche injuries and suspensions
In Doubt: Cristian Sapunaru (knock), Sergio Pelegrin (hernia).
Real Madrid injuries and suspensions
Out: Fábio Coentrão (hamstring), Marcelo (hamstring), Xabi Alonso (foot), Gareth Bale (thigh).
Two Elche players, Cristian Sapunaru and Sergio Pelegrin are doubtful for the match but reports seem to indicate that Pelegrin is the more likely player to be ready to go. Madrid remain without Coentrao, Marcelo and Xabi Alonso and Gareth Bale’s thigh is still not ready after he tweaked it during warm-ups on Sunday.
Projected lineups
Elche: Manu Herrera, Damián Suárez, Alberto Botia, David Lombán, Edu Albácar, Rubén Pérez, Carlos Sánchez, Mrioslav Stevanović, Coro, Fidel, Richmond Boayke.
Real Madrid: Diego López, Dani Carvajal, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sami Khedira, Asier Illarramendi, Angel Di Maria, Isco, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema.
Match Date/Time: 10 p.m. local, 4 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, Elche, Spain
TV: beIN Sport, beIN Sport en Español (U.S.), Sky Sports 3 (U.K.), Canal+ Liga, GOL T (Spain)
Online: beIN Sport Play (U.S.)
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