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Real Madrid will look to maintain their perfect start to the season when they play Osasuna in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday.
Carlo Ancelotti's side go into the game with six wins from six in La Liga and with two wins from their two Champions League games, ahead of a fortnight that could see them assure their place in the knockout stage of the tournament with two matches against Shakhtar Donetsk, before playing FC Barcelona in the first 'Clasico' of the season. With the first of those games against Shakhtar on Wednesday, Ancelotti may be tempted to rest some first-team regulars, especially those who have returned from international duty, although injuries to Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric slightly limit his options. Karim Benzema is fit to play after a muscle injury sidelined him for a month, although Ancelotti may prefer to re-introduce the Frenchman slowly back into the action, which will probably see Rodrygo continue in attack. The Brazilian and Fede Valverde were both excellent before the international break and it says a lot about the depth of Madrid's squad with Benzema's return probably seeing one of them miss out in midweek, reports Xinhua. Meanwhile, Eder Militao is available in central defense, where Ancelotti has plenty of options such as Nacho, Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba to spread the workload, while Eduardo Camvinga, Aurelien Tchouamen and Dani Ceballos are all alternatives to Modric, who will be out of action for around 10 days. Osasuna started the season well but were pegged back by a home defeat to Getafe before the international break and the Bernabeu is not a happy place for them to visit. The side from Pamplona haven't won in their last 18 visits to Real Madrid's home ground, with just one draw in their last 10 visits. --IANS bsk ( 321 Words) 2022-10-01-22:58:01 (IANS)
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