La Liga has begun with Rayo Vallecano’s trip to Getafe. The Christmas break is finally over. Atletico Madrid will play at Girona, and Villarreal will play at Valencia. These are two of the biggest games this weekend.

During all of this, Real Madrid will play Mallorca at the Santiago Bernabeu to extend their lead at the top of the table. They haven’t lost in six games for Palma, so Carlo Ancelotti will have his work cut out for him.

Many important players for Madrid will not be able to play because both of their starting center backs tore their ACLs. Ferland Mendy is also out for good. Captain Nacho has been banned, so he won’t play tomorrow.

Because there are so many problems in defense, Ancelotti can only use Antonio Rudiger as a senior center-back. It looks like the German will be in the starting group, but who will play with him?

That’s Tchouameni back at cornerback.

“I’m not sure whether to go with Kepa or Lunin as goalkeeper because I have my doubts.” It’s also not fair for me to pick now for the rest of the season. “I’ll take it one game at a time,” Ancelotti told the press during his press conference about the club’s goalie search.

But he did say that Kepa has the flu and won’t be able to play tomorrow. That means Andriy Lunin will start in his place.

This season, Aurelien Tchoumaeni only played one game as a center-back. It was against Osasuna, and Madrid quickly won 4-0. The Frenchman said he didn’t want to play there again, but he has no choice because of all the injuries and will start as a center-back.

Antonio Rudiger is sure to get a spot on the team. He will play with Fran Garcia and Daniel Carvajal in the back, with Garcia playing left back and Carvajal playing right back.

Middle field: Kroos keeps it down

Toni Kroos is now necessary because Tchouameni is playing in the back line and Eduardo Camavinga isn’t fit enough to be on the team yet. He should be the center of Ancelotti’s new-look 4-2-2-2 Madrid team tomorrow.

Fede Valverde will play with him in the deep middle. He will also try to add width by moving to the right flank and holding the fort defense at times. You should also have Luka Modric in the middle of the field, almost as a number 8.

Madrid fans have run out of great things to say about Jude Bellingham. He has been like a miracle for them this season. In this scheme, he should be the most advanced midfielder and be able to crash the box.

Attack: Is Brahim still in shape?

There have been plenty of goals for Madrid this season. Their forwards get into purple patch form just at the right time, which helps them win tough games.

Rodrygo and Brahim Diaz are having a great time right now. Together they have helped score 18 goals this season.

This one, in particular, has played better than expected lately, with great games against Real Betis, Granada, and Napoli. They should be the first two players up top for Madrid tomorrow.

Today, Vinicius Jr. is back on the team list for the game tomorrow. It’s the first time since the 5-1 win over Valencia when he scored two goals. Ancelotti will be careful with him, but he will give him 15 to 20 minutes to stretch at the end.

As the season goes on, Alvaro Carrillo may be needed more than once, so he was called up from Real Madrid Castilla. He could play tomorrow and make his start.

In other news, Arda Guler is also on the team list for the game. If his health is checked, he could finally make his long-awaited start.

Finally, Joselu will almost certainly come on at some point, as Ancelotti wants to give his players a break before a busy January schedule.