Xabi Alonso makes his La Liga debut with Real Madrid, whose adventure at the helm of the world’s most successful club officially began last June in the Club World Cup, which ended in disaster for Los Blancos with a 4-0 defeat in the semi-finals against European champions PSG. Mbappé and his teammates were forced to resume training late, like all the other teams that took part in the US tournament: their only friendly match was against Austrian side Tirol, who they crushed 4-0 (two goals from Mbappé, Rodrygo and Militao).
Alonso, fresh from his glorious years at Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, has a heavy legacy to live up to: his predecessor is none other than Carlo Ancelotti, who in his second spell at Madrid won practically everything there was to win, including two Champions League titles.
Xabi Alonso without Bellingham and Camavinga
However, the Basque coach is being asked to make some changes from the past: transferring his ideas (intensity, offensive pressing, especially running) and doing so in a short time will not be easy, even if we already saw glimpses of this in the Club World Cup.
The goal is to do better than last season, when Barcelona came out on top on all fronts, leaving Real Madrid empty-handed. It will therefore be important to get off on the right foot, responding to Barça, who are already three points ahead in the standings: Osasuna, ninth in the last La Liga, are coming to the Bernabeu. The Navarri have turned to Italian Alessio Lisci, a coach who narrowly missed promotion to the top flight with Mirandés last June. In attack, Croatian Budimir is a sure bet, ready to lead the red and blues with his goals. Real Madrid will be without Rudiger (suspended), Camavinga, and Bellingham, who underwent surgery and will not return before October.
Odds comparison
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The prediction
Osasuna’s players have more minutes in their legs than Real Madrid and it would not be a surprise if they managed to cause some headaches for Los Blancos.
We predict at least three goals in total.
Probable line-ups for Real Madrid vs. Osasuna
REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Militâo, Huijsen, Carreras; Valverde, Tchouaméni, Güler;
Brahim Díaz, Mbappé, Vinicius Jr.
OSASUNA (4-3-3): Herrera; Rosier, Catena, Boyomo, Bretones; Torró, Moncayola, Oroz; Barja, Budimir, Moi Gomez.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1