Well here comes a fresh pair of injuries. Danilo will be out for a month while James will be out for 2 weeks

Espanyol are a very good team, Asensio hasn't gitten any playing time which is worrying. They spent so much time begging to take him only to put him on the bench. I dont get it

Navas' first game after the DDG debacle with rumours that DDG will renew so that must be good news for the Costa Rican

Most probable line up:


Marcelo better get subbed out or his form will drop dramatically or will get a long term injury

I expect us to beat them by 2 goals to nil

Casemiro will play instead of Kroos and Varane instead of Pepe.

As for the game itself, expect our creativity to drop dramatically with James sidelined. Still, I believe we have enough firepower to win this.

I *bleep* hate the international break. Every single time, it's us who get hurt the most. I hope James' injury isn't serious and that he'll be back in no time.

i hate to highlight on the opponents when we're doing these match day threads, but i hear espanyol will be giving a farewell to raul tamudo in this game. still can't thank him enough for those 2 he scored against barcelona which helped us in the 07 league race. that said, international break or not, i expect us to beat them. with the squad we have, there really isn't any excuse to drop points. i hope rafa isn't going to play isco on the right side of midfield. for crying out loud, let players just play their positions, it shouldn't be that complicated

We should grant him a honorary membership.

We should be relatively fine with the squad we have. Dani to replace Danilo and Isco to replace James. Unless, of course, Espanyol is secretly really good at playing football and is just waiting to meet us.

They're a very good side, that's undeniable. But Rafa has no excuse to mess up. He has a WC squad and must win this.

Confirmed Lineup: Keylor Navas, Carvajal, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Casemiro, Modric, Isco, Bale, Cristiano and Benzema.

Interesting midfield. Isco in an advanced role should be good to watch

Benitez trusting Casemiro. Watch our players being alot more fresh come second half of the season. Kroos especially needs alot of rest

Jese, Kovacic and Arbeloa to come on for Benz, Modric and Marcelo hopefully

Casemiro is everything Benitez love tbh lol. And he had a fantastic season at Porto.

Good decision

Under Carlo Casemiro would be somewhere in Madrid watching the game on his TV. I am glad Rafa trusts him and I hope he pays back for the support

Yes. That sight last season of Kroos and Modric running in fumes wasn't pleasant at all.

Rafa seems better than Carlo in that department but I don't know why he didn't want to rotate Danilo with Carvajal. Only when the former got injured that the latter got to play again.

Well, 4-0 within 28 minutes, Ronaldo with a trick, Benzema with a tap in. I guess this match is relatively over.

Fabulous half, dismantled them with ease. BBC playing great, Casemiro doing a great DM job, Marcelo being Marcelo and so on. Keylor need to lay off on those long kicks though, they look like what Iker would do tbh

Hope Kovacic comes on early in the second half, Modric needs to rest don't want him injured

I was thinking the opposite re Navas' long kicks. When Iker rarely made them, he always has a target in mind.

Where are all the Benitez critics now?

3 games in Señor Bill, the critics would be in full swing when we draw or lose. I like that the players are responding well to what Rafa wants, may we keep up the good work.

Calm your horses, come back with this statement when we win a major trophy. As things stand, he still hasn't proven anything.

Last season we embarked upon a rampage slapping everybody left and right during the first half of the season (24 winning streak), only to succumb in the second half to injuries and poor form. Too early to start "shutting up" Rafa's critics.

As for the game, Bale has been tremendous and Ronaldo needs to set him up for a goal.

Allowed to ease in this season. We usually play the supercup to start the season against Barca or Atleti and then have a key game early too... not this one. Easy opponents to start.

Didn't have to face trial by fire going in.

Has there ever been a question about how we do against weak opposition? No, this is just another throwaway game where Ronaldo can add to his goal tally.

It is gonna come down to the big matches. Atletico, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, mainly he former 2. Not to mention CL and CDR when it gets closer to the final

Well, we did question when we drew against Sporting and we would question when we drop points against weak opposition. So to answer the (rhetorical?) statement, yes, we question it.

But it shouldn't be a question with the amount of talent we have

Excellent game, loved it from start to finish, the moment someone lost their concentration (Ramos) off they went and a fresh player came on. So kudos to Benitez for that.

Can this Bale as a CAM actually work??? I don't want to make conclusions but he has actually put two great performances in a row which has NEVER happened. Will judge after we have played at least 2 big teams away from home

halamadrid2 wrote:Excellent game, loved it from start to finish, the moment someone lost their concentration (Ramos) off they went and a fresh player came on. So kudos to Benitez for that.

Can this Bale as a CAM actually work??? I don't want to make conclusions but he has actually put two great performances in a row which has NEVER happened. Will judge after we have played at least 2 big teams away from home

That's not true and I'm the ultimate Bale hater. Bale was consistently good in his first season until ronaldo's injury

Was going to say that Hala. He looks good as a CAM but let's wait for a big game to start drawing conclusions.