La Liga | Gameweek 30

Apr 5, 2025 at 3.15pm UK

Estadio Santiago Bernabeu

Real Madrid vs Valencia

Match preview

The games are coming thick and fast for Real Madrid, and the capital giants have barely had time to recover from Tuesday night's Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Real Sociedad, which was a spectacular affair.

The Bernabeu faithful were treated to eight goals as the two sides played out a 4-4 draw, with Real Madrid advancing to the final with a 5-4 aggregate victory and a date with Barcelona in the final at the end of April.

Ancelotti's side cannot afford to take their eye off the ball in La Liga, however, with Barcelona currently sitting atop the table, three points clear of their rivals, and with little room for error at this stage of the competition.

The top two in Spain are battling it out in La Liga and the Copa del Rey, while they are also among the favourites for this season's Champions League, with Real Madrid's European Cup quarter-final first leg against Arsenal next week.

Los Blancos were 3-2 winners over Leganes in La Liga last time out, with the hosts surviving a scare to emerge victorious, and the reigning champions will be looking to complete a La Liga double over Valencia, having won 2-1 in the reverse fixture at the Mestalla earlier this season.

Valencia last avoided defeat away to Real Madrid in La Liga in August 2017, when they shared the points in a 2-2 draw, while Los Che have not been able to overcome Los Blancos in the Spanish top flight since March 2008.

However, Carlos Corberan's side will be the fresher of the two sides going into the clash, with Valencia having last played on 30 March, when they recorded a 1-0 win over Mallorca in front of their own fans.

Los Che have taken eight points from their last four league games to move up to 15th in the standings, four points above the relegation zone, but their fight to stay in the top flight is far from over.

Valencia's home form this season is actually the eighth-best in the league, with 24 points from 15 games, but they have found it incredibly difficult on the road, taking just seven points from 14 games and failing to win a single game.

The six-time Spanish champions have not been relegated from the top flight since 1986, an indication of what is at stake in the closing stages of the campaign, and their home form will be crucial to their survival hopes.

Recent Performance

Real Madrid La Liga form:DWLWWW

Real Madrid form (all competitions):WWWWWD

Valencia La Liga form:DLDWDW

Team News

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois' muscle problem is proving to be more of a problem than first feared and the Belgium international will be ruled out again this weekend, but should be fit to face Arsenal in the Champions League.

Andriy Lunin will therefore continue between the sticks for Real Madrid, despite a slight calf problem.

Dani Ceballos and Ferland Mendy should be available to face Arsenal, but will miss Saturday's clash, while Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao remain on the sidelines with serious knee injuries.

There will be changes to the side that started against Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey, with Kylian Mbappe and Antonio Rudiger set to return, while Fran Garcia is expected to start at left-back.

For Valencia, Cristian Rivero and Thierry Correia remain unavailable through injury, while Dimitri Foulquier, Jose Gaya and Luis Rioja will all miss the trip to the Spanish capital through suspension.

Head coach Corberan will be forced to make three changes to the side that beat Mallorca at home last time out.

Yarek Gasiorowski, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, is in line to start at left-back due to the away side's defensive absentees, while Jesus Vazquez and Fran Perez could also come into the starting line-up.

Possible starting lineup

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Lunin; Vazquez, Asencio, Rudiger, F Garcia; Valverde, Tchouameni; Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappe

Valencia possible starting lineup:

Mamardashvili; Vazquez, Tarrega, Mosquera, Gasiorowski; Guerra, Barrenechea; Perez, Almeida, D Lopez; Sadiq