Real Madrid’s match against Eibar was expected to be full of substitutes. Zinedine Zidane has decided to officially rest two key players ahead of the Champions League second leg against Wolfsburg. Keylor Navas and Luka Modrić are out of the squad, as well as Benzema and Varane because of injury and Ramos for suspension.
Kiko Casilla will have a chance to play, after only playing five games this season. His last was against Malmö in the UCL. In La Liga, he hasn’t played since the Sevilla loss back on November 8th.
Modrić’s absence opens up the door for men like Isco, James, and Kovačić, who haven’t been playing too much lately. This could mean that the system could change in order to better fit those players. However, Zidane could stick with the usual 4-3-3 to keep the balance.
The 2-0 loss at Wolfsburg has been very harmful and could get complicated if the Germans score a goal. Because of this, using a B squad makes perfect sense at the moment. Despite big names like Ronaldo, Kroos, Marcelo and Bale still being in the squad, they have very good odds of being taken out early if things go well.
