Real Madrid have an excellent recent record against Deportivo Alaves and have won 21 out of the last 25 matches

Real Madrid are bidding to bounce back from a painful night at the Emirates in midweek. They travel to Mendizorroza on Sunday to take on La Liga strugglers Alaves.

Having also lost at home to Valencia last weekend in the league, the pressure is on Carlo Ancelotti to find some solutions and fast, with Los Blancos in danger of seeing their entire season collapse.

Defensively they’ve been very weak of late, with no clean sheets in nine matches in all competitions. The midfield is not functioning well, and up top, it’s only really Kylian Mbappe who is offering a consistent goal threat right now, although they still remain firmly in the title race as second favourites to Barcelona, as we enter the final eight games.

Survival is the only objective for Alaves. They’ve made some positive strides since appointing Chacho Coudet last year, but with 50% of their matches so far under the Argentine ending level, they still have plenty of work to do in order to secure survival. A 1-0 win at Girona last time out was certainly a step in the right direction.

Alaves last won this fixture in 2018 when Manu Garcia struck in stoppage time to seal a 1-0 win and spark wild celebrations in Vitoria. Real Madrid have won on all four visits to Mendizorroza since then though, while they’ve won nine of the last 10 meetings overall.

Alaves have no players currently injured, but they have been hit hard by suspensions, with first choice keeper Antonio Sivera banned here, along with Jon Guridi and Tomas Conechny.

As for Real Madrid, some light rotation is expected following the trip to London. Aurelien Tchouameni was banned in Europe and should definitely return, with Antonio Rudiger potentially due a rest. Fran Garcia and Lucas Vazquez should also come in at full-back.

Alaves: Owono, M. Sanchez, Abqar, Mourino, Tenaglia, Blanco, Alena, Jordan, C. Vicente, C. Martin, Kike.

Real Madrid: Courtois, F. Garcia, Asencio, Tchouameni, L. Vazquez, Camavinga, Valverde, Vinicius, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Mbappe.