Carlo Ancelotti is expected to make both tactical and personnel changes for Real Madrid’s second leg against Arsenal, but Ferland Mendy remains absent.
Spanish outlet Sport report that Carlo Ancelotti intends to make tactical adjustments ahead of Real Madrid’s second leg against Arsenal, and he’s also planning to make changes to his starting lineup.
Though Sport don’t specifically mention any of the planned changes, one safe bet is the inclusion of Aurelien Tchouameni, who was suspended for the first leg.
On the other side of things, Eduardo Camavinga will certainly miss out with his suspension.
Andriy Lunin and Ferland Mendy won’t be among those coming in, with both players reportedly ruled out with muscle injuries. Lunin is Real Madrid’s backup goalkeeper anyway, but Mendy had been the first-choice left-back for Ancelotti in the Champions League this season.
In other injury news, Dani Ceballos returned to action for a brief cameo at the weekend, and AS report that he’s training to be able to play a more prominent role against former club Arsenal.
Very likely to start against Arsenal are Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham, whom Ancelotti reportedly left on the bench at the weekend specifically to get them ready for the Gunners.
Kylian Mbappe has also been training hard following his red card at the weekend.
Whilst other Real Madrid starters against Alaves on Sunday have had a lighter workload since that game, Mbappe’s early sending-off means he’s been training as intensively as those that were rested.
Real Madrid still believe they can come back and progress to the Champions League semi-finals, despite their 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the first leg. They won’t want to make the same mistakes they made last Tuesday.