Real Madrid have entrusted Rodrygo to start up front for tonight’s El Clasico with Barcelona.
The Blaugrana claimed a 1-0 win in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg at the Bernabeu, and Los Blancos may have little choice but to be aggressive when the rivals reconvene at Camp Nou on Wednesday night.
Real secured a convincing 6-0 win over Valladolid in their weekend warm-up as Ancelotti deployed a 4-2-3-1 featuring Marco Asensio and Vinicius Jr on the flanks, and Rodrygo in behind Karim Benzema.
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Yet Carlo Ancelotti has reverted to his usual 4-3-3 but with Rodrygo on the wing instead of Federico Valverde, who drops back into midfield alongside Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
Antonio Rudiger is fit for the bench with Ferland Mendy a late injury absentee due to a calf problem. Eduardo Camavinga beats Nacho Fernandez to start at left-back.
Barcelona are without the injured Pedri, Andreas Christensen, Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele.
Xavi elevated Eric Garcia to a midfield role as his side downed Elche on Saturday but Sergio Busquets returns for El Clasico.
Raphinha is also back from a ban, leading to Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati dropping out despite their goalscoring performances in that 4-0 win.
Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen; Araujo, Kounde, Alonso, Balde; Roberto, Busquets, Kessie; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gavi.
Subs: Pena, Torres, Alba, Fati, Casado, Garcia, Torre, Tenas, Alarcon, Estanis, Garrido.
Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Camavinga; Kroos, Modric, Valverde; Rodrygo, Benzema Vinicius Jr.
Subs: Lunin, Lopez, Vallejo, Nacho, Hazard, Asensio, Odriozola, Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Mariano, Ceballos.
