At around 8:40 p.m. on Wednesday evening, the Real Madrid starting XI will strut out of the dressing room and down the tunnel onto the Bernabéu pitch to meet Manchester United. The lucky eleven is likely to be: Diego López, Arbeloa, Ramos, Pepe, Coentrao, Xabi Alonso, Khedira, Di María, Özil, Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema. This is Mou's tried-and-trusted big-match line-up, with the exception of Marcelo, who still isn't ready for the crunch occasions.
Pepe is one of the names on this team sheet, having been back in training for 10 days and put in a solid 25-minute cameo performance against Sevilla. Varane is the other option to partner Sergio Ramos, but the Frenchman is struggling with his fitness, which has hindered his chances.
The other change Mou may have considered in the starting line-up would be to draft in Essien for Coentrao, with the Ghanaian coming in at right-back and Arbeloa shifting over to the left. This is the same full-back pairing he deployed in the recent 'Clásico'.
The rest of Mou's team, in midfield and up front, more or less picks itself. Khedira and Alonso, who sat out the entire Sevilla match, will conduct play in the centre of the park, while Özil, Di María, Cristiano and Benzema will spearhead Real's goalscoring threat.
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