After the euphoria of their Champions League semi-final second leg win over Bayern Munich midweek, Real Madrid return to La Liga action against struggling Granada.
Madrid produced another vintage comeback on European football’s biggest stage, beating Bayern 2-1 with two late Joselu goals to reach an 18th European Cup/Champions League final. With the Supercopa de Espana and La Liga in the bag already, the capital side are still on course for a treble of trophies this term.
There is nothing riding on Saturday’s match for Madrid, although victory would relegate their Andalusian opponents. Granada are all but demoted already as they sit 11 points off safety with four games to play, but failing to beat the champions at home this weekend would confirm their fate.
Here’s 90min’s preview of the game.
Granada vs Real Madrid H2H record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Granada |
Real Madrid |
|---|---|
|
Sevilla 3-0 Granada – 05/05/24 |
Real Madrid 2-1 Bayern – 08/05/24 |
|
Granada 3-0 Osasuna – 28/04/24 |
Real Madrid 3-0 Cadiz – 04/05/24 |
|
Athletic Club 1-1 Granada – 19/04/24 |
Bayern 2-2 Real Madrid – 30/04/24 |
|
Granada 2-0 Deportivo Alaves – 14/04/24 |
Real Sociedad 0-1 Real Madrid – 26/04/24 |
|
Granada 0-1 Valencia – 04/04/24 |
Real Madrid 3-2 Barcelona – 21/04/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel / live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
LaLigaTV |
|
United States |
ESPN+, ESPN Deportes |
|
Canada |
TSN+ |
Jose Ramon Sandoval has a number of doubts ahead of the clash with the champions, including the trio of Antonio Puertas, Raul Torrente and Sergio Ruiz.
Centre-back Miguel Rubio is also missing through suspension after picking up a fifth yellow card of the season in the 3-0 defeat to Sevilla last time out.
Granada predicted lineup (4-4-2): Batalla; Mendez, Piatkowski, Miquel, Neva; Pellistri, Gumbau, Hongla, Jozwiak; Boye, Uzuni.
After an energy-zapping midweek clash with Bayern, Carlo Ancelotti is likely to make sweeping changes across his team with the La Liga title already sewn up.
Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao should get some more minutes under their belt as they continue their integration back into the first team after long-term injuries, while the likes of Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz, Fran Garcia and midweek hero Joselu could be handed starts.
Aurelien Tchouameni has a stress fracture in his foot and is now a doubt for the Champions League final.
Real Madrid predicted lineup (4-3-1-2): Courtois; Vazquez, Rudiger, Militao, Garcia; Camavinga, Kroos, Modric; Guler; Diaz, Joselu.
The fact that Granada have lost their last 15 matches with Real Madrid suggests that they will struggle to fight off relegation this weekend, even if the visitors make wholesale changes to their starting lineup.
The only hope that the underdogs have is that some of Madrid’s stars will still be a little worse for wear after their midweek celebrations, but that’s probably clutching at straws.
Prediction: Granada 0-2 Real Madrid
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