Preview: Real Madrid vs Alaves - prediction, team news, lineups

Real Madrid will attempt to bounce back from their Champions League quarter-final exit when they take on Alaves at the Santiago Bernabeu in Tuesday's La Liga encounter. 

Los Blancos are nine points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona, while the visitors are hovering just above the bottom three. 

Match preview

Real Madrid head into the midweek fixture on the back of a four-game winless run that leaves them on the verge of finishing the season without any silverware.

That poor run of results includes a 2-1 defeat to Mallorca and a 1-1 draw with Girona in La Liga, leaving them nine points away from Barcelona with seven games left to play, including El Clasico on May 10.

Those two results took place on either side of a 2-1 defeat in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich, leaving them with signicant work to do in the return fixture in glory. 

Los Blancos produced one of their best performances of an underwhelming season in Munich, establishing a 3-2 lead to level the tie on aggregate, only for Eduardo Camavinga's 86th-minute red card to swing the momentum in Bayern's favour. 

While Real Madrid were left angered by the decision to show Camavinga his second yellow card for delaying the restart, Bayern took full advantage to score two late goals to condemn Los Blancos to back-to-back quarter-final exits in the Champions League.

With the league title realistically out of reach, the focus and speculation are already turning to the future of Alvaro Arbeloa and squad plans for the 2026-27 campaign.

However, Arbeloa's charges must remain professional and put all their efforts into Tuesday's outing at the Bernabeu, where they will attempt to record a ninth consecutive head-to-head win against Alaves - a winning run they continued with a 2-1 success in December's trip to Mendizorroza.

© Imago / ZUMA Press Wire

Alaves, meanwhile, have been an entertaining team to watch since Quique Sanchez Flores took over the reins at the start of March.

The Basque side conceded late in a defeat to Valencia and a draw against Villarreal, before they fought back from three goals down to pull off a stunning 4-3 victory over Celta Vigo.

Lucas Boye has proven key in Alaves' last two outings, coming off the bench to net a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2-2 scoreline against Osasuna, before he repeated the feat in a thrilling 3-3 draw in the recent away clash with Real Sociedad.

Having collected 33 points from 31 matches, Alaves are sitting just a point clear of 18th-placed Elche with seven fixtures left to play, including difficult matches against Real Madrid and Barcelona.

With Real Madrid reeling from their Champions League, El Glorioso may view Tuesday's game as a real opportunity to clinch their first head-to-head victory since winning 2-1 at the Bernabeu in November 2020.

However, Alaves will surely need to offer a defensive improvement if they are to pull off a surprise win, considering they have conceded three goals in each of their last three away games. 

Real Madrid La Liga form:

Real Madrid form (all competitions):

Alaves La Liga form:

Team News

© Imago / Sportimage

Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio has been ruled out of the fixture after being diagnosed with gastroenteritis.

Brazilian attacker Rodrygo is a long-term absentee after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury at the start of March. 

Goalkeeper Andrey Lunin will continue to deputise in the absence of Thibaut Courtois, who has missed the last five games with a thigh injury.

Aurelien Tchouameni will return to the midfield after being banned for the second leg defeat against Bayern Munich, while Alvaro Carreras is an option to play at left-back.

Alaves have no fresh injury concerns, although they remain without the services of Carlos Benavidez due to injury. 

Abde Rebbach is set to serve a one-match ban after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the draw with Real Sociedad.

Yusi is likely to replace Rebbach in the left wing-back position, while Boye is pushing for a starting berth at the top end of the pitch. 

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Lunin; Alexander-Arnold, Militao, Rudiger, Carreras; Valverde, Tchouameni, Guler, Bellingham; Mbappe, Vinicius Jr

Alaves possible starting lineup:

Sivera; Perez, Otto, Tenaglia, Parada, Yusi; Ibanez, Blanco, Guridi; Martinez, Boye

We say: Real Madrid 3-1 Alaves

Real Madrid may be resigned to defeat in the title race, but they will still want to produce a positive response to a poor run of form, and we think the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior could enjoy themselves against an Alaves team that has been vulnerable defensively in recent times. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.