Real Madrid face Lille in their first Champions League away game of the season on Wednesday night, as they are hosted at the Stade Pierre Mauroy for the first time ever. The match will kick off at 21:00 CEST, with Kylian Mbappe also due to make his first appearance in France for a non-French team ever.
It’s set to be a sell-out crowd for the clash in Lille, and Mbappe’s surprise return to the squad two weeks ahead of schedule will only have heightened excitement. The return of Eduardo Camavinga, who was on the bench during the Madrid derby, might excite Carlo Ancelotti just as much, after around six weeks without him. Marca believe that both will start, with Arda Guler also coming back into the line-up. Aurelien Tchouameni and Rodrygo Goes would in that case be the only changes from the weekend except for in goal.
Kylian Mbappe was the surprise inclusion in the #RealMadrid for their #ChampionsLeague trip to Lille.
After coming back a week into a supposed three-week injury, Marca believe he will start in his first game in France for Los Blancos. Eduardo Camavinga is also back. pic.twitter.com/MDL4B6Afde
— Football España (@footballespana_) October 2, 2024
Thibaut Courtois has been added to the injury list for the next two weeks, and Andriy Lunin will make his season debut in place of the Belgian. David Alaba, Dani Ceballos and Brahim Diaz remain sidelined too. Diario AS have the same line-up, with the exception of Rodrygo keeping Mbappe on the bench.
Lille are nursing their own injury issues with Ismaily, Nabil Bentaleb, Samuel Umtiti, Ethan Mbappe, Hakon Haraldsson and Ngal’ayel Mukau through injury, while Angel Gomes is suspended after being sent off in their opener against Sporting CP.
Barcelona-linked Jonathan David is the main threat up front for Les Dogues, with Benjamin Andre to anchor the midfield. Remy Cabella is set to orchestrate playmaking duties, but htere are questions over whether he will start behind David or deeper. Either way, a more defensively minded Tiago Santos is expected to start on the right if he is beside Andre, or it Edon Zhergova could be out wide, with 17-year-old Ismail Bouaddi in deeper midfield.
