Real Madrid predicted lineup vs Inter - Champions League

Real Madrid travel to San Siro to face reigning Scudetto holders Inter for their opening match of the 2021/22 Champions League group stage on Wednesday evening.

The record-winners of the continent's premier club competition have parted ways with manager Zinedine Zidane and captain Sergio Ramos since recording back-to-back victories over the Nerazzurri at this stage last season.

That double-headed triumph proved imperative to ensure Madrid progressed to the knockouts as the Spanish behemoths lost home and away to Shakhtar Donetsk, who also find themselves in this season's Group D.

Here's how Carlo Ancelotti - a familiar foe to those in Milan - could lineup for the reshuffled reunion.

Real Madrid predicted lineup vs Inter - Champions League

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Thibaut Courtois (GK) - Madrid's undisputed number one didn't miss a minute of top flight or European football for Los Blancos last season.

Dani Carvajal (RB) - Following an injury-ravaged campaign last term - 36 matches missed - Carvajal has made a tentative return to the first team so far.

Eder Militao (CB) - Without Ramos or Raphael Varane to lean upon, the Brazilian centre back has come a long way from the nervous wreck that almost fainted upon his Real Madrid presentation two years ago.

Nacho Fernandez (CB) - Following the defensive exodus from the Spanish capital over the summer, Nacho's enduring patience as the uncomplaining stop-gap has been rewarded with a swift and deserved rise up the team's hierarchy.

Miguel Gutierrez (LB) - While David Alaba remains a doubt after a heavy international workload, Madrid's talented youngster could make his debut in the senior edition of a competition he won at youth level in 2020.

2. Midfielders

Federico Valverde (RM) - Tethered to the club where his prodigious work rate has already made him a firm favourite, Valverde is set to remain a fixture of the first team to 2027, if not beyond.

Luka Modric (CM) - Back in the side on Sunday for his first appearance since the summer, Ancelotti could only afford to give Modric ten minutes rest with Inter in mind.

Casemiro (CM) - Casemiro is surely the only player in world football who could clatter into a referee and emerge not only unpunished, but with smiles on both parties' faces.

Vinicius Junior (LM) - In a coaching career that has spanned more than a quarter of a century, Ancelotti has had to make uncountable tough team selections. Unleashing his Brazilian starlet (who has already bettered the highest scoring season of his Madrid career) is not one of them.

3. Forwards

Eden Hazard (ST) - A whopping 20% of Hazard's Real Madrid goals have been plundered at Inter's expense. Admittedly, given his continued struggles decked in white, this equates to just the one, but it's better than the far more common figure of zero.

Karim Benzema (ST) - A couple of months short of his 34th birthday, Real's talismanic Frenchman has never looked better, picking up where he left off last season with five goals in four games this term.

This article was originally published on 90min as Real Madrid predicted lineup vs Inter - Champions League.

Source: www.90min.com