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How Real Madrid could line up for their first game back

Sports Mole looks at how Real Madrid could line up for their first match back after lockdown following the announcement that La Liga will return on June 11.

The wait for top-flight Spanish football will finally come to an end on June 11, when La Liga returns after a hiatus of more than three months.

For Real Madrid and Barcelona it means a resumption of a fascinating title battle which sees the two sides separated by only two points after 27 games of the campaign.

A 2-0 Clasico win had given Zinedine Zidane's side the edge in the title race at the beginning of March, only for a follow-up 2-1 loss at Real Betis to see the tussle swing back in favour of Barca.

Madrid's first game back will come on the weekend of June 12-14, when they will take on relegation-threatened Eibar at the Bernabeu, and here Sports Mole looks at how they could line up for that contest.



RMA XI

Out: Luka Jovic (foot)
Doubtful: Eden Hazard (ankle), Marco Asensio (knee)

One advantage of the enforced stoppage in play means that Eden Hazard is likely to feature again this season, although whether he makes the starting lineup for the first game back is another matter.

The Belgian - a big-money signing from Chelsea last summer - has suffered an injury-plagued debut campaign at the Bernabeu and underwent ankle surgery in March, which he is still recovering from.

Hazard is now back running and should not be too far behind his teammates in terms of match fitness, but Vinicius Junior was the preferred choice on the left before lockdown and that is likely to continue being the case until Hazard is ready to play a full 90 minutes.

No-one has featured more often or scored more goals than Karim Benzema for Madrid this season and he will lead the line again, particularly after Luka Jovic suffered a fractured foot during lockdown.

Midfield stalwarts Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro are all likely to start too, with Federico Valverde completing the five-man midfield on the right.

Marco Asensio, who has missed the entire campaign so far, is the only other injury doubt alongside Jovic, with the three-month break giving the likes of Thibaut Courtois, Marcelo and Dani Carvajal the chance to recover from injuries they were nursing beforehand.

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