Real Madrid will be bidding to move to within five points of La Liga leaders Barcelona when they head to Estadio El Sadar on Saturday night to face Osasuna.
Los Blancos will enter the clash off the back of a 4-0 win over basement side Elche on Wednesday night, while Osasuna, who sit ninth in the table, drew 0-0 with Real Valladolid last weekend.
Osasuna have enjoyed a solid campaign to date, with a record of eight wins, six draws and seven defeats from 21 matches bringing them 30 points, which is enough for ninth position in the table heading into the next set of fixtures in Spain’s top flight. Osasuna will need to start putting some more victories on the board in order to be serious challengers for the top six.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, were 11 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona last weekend, with the reigning champions not featuring in the league due to their involvement in the Club World Cup, which they won by overcoming Al Ahly and Al-Hilal in the semi-finals and final respectively.
Carlo Ancelotti‘s side suffered a 1-0 defeat to Mallorca in the league on February 5, but they managed to return to winning ways on Wednesday evening, scoring four unanswered goals against Elche.
Real Madrid must keep winning in order to stay in touch with Barcelona, so there is no downplaying the importance of this match. Osasuna are capable of making this an uncomfortable game, and the hosts will be the fresher of the two teams, but we are expecting Ancelotti’s side to secure all three points.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
