Real Madrid vs Deportivo Alaves

Estadio Santiago Bernabeu is the venue as Real Madrid and Deportivo Alaves go head-to-head in midweek La Liga action. 

Real Madrid refused to let their outstanding Champions League comeback against Bayern Munich tuck them into the comfort zone as they produced a rampant performance in a 4-0 demolition of Granada at the weekend. The record-time La Liga winners return to the Santiago Bernabeu, where they’ve not lost a league match this season (W15, D2), for the first time since being crowned the new champions. Carlo Ancelotti’s men are unbeaten in their last 22 competitive outings (W16, D6) and are only two matches away from completing their first unbeaten home season in La Liga since 2019/20. Los Blancos last lost a league match in Madrid in April 2023 (W19, D3), and it’s only natural to assume they’ll uphold their formidable home record against Alaves in the 21st century (W9, L2).

However, visiting Alaves will fancy their chances in the capital after holding second-placed Girona to an action-packed 2-2 stalemate last weekend. Despite relinquishing a three-game winning streak, the visitors can draw courage from an outstanding 2-0 home victory against Los Merengues’ fierce rivals Atletico Madrid in late April. El Glorioso nearly held Real Madrid winless in December’s reverse fixture, only to concede a 92nd-minute goal in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss. Another scoring blank from Alaves is well on the cards, even though they stunned Valencia on their last La Liga travel (1-0). They had failed to get on the scoresheet on four previous league trips (D1, L3), identifying an uneventful frontline as a weak link.