5 bold La Liga predictions: Barcelona bounce back against Atletico

3. Real drop points under Solari for first time

Santiago Solari certainly wasn’t the replacement Florentino Perez had in mind for Julen Lopetegui. The initial plan was to hire him as interim manager before moving on to someone a lot more successful, yet there wasn’t a willing candidate and Solari has started off well so he has earned a permanent role.

It took a late push to see of Valladolid but Viktoria Plzen and Celta Vigo were dealt with comfortably, although the Celta match could be seen as a pyrrhic victory due to the injuries the team picked up (Casemiro, Nacho and Sergio Reguilon all went off). Sergio Ramos also picked up a groin injury on international duty, although Jesus Vallejo, Raphael Varane, Marcelo and Dani Carvajal are set to return, according to AS.

Marcelo is the most important player to return due to the creativity he brings going forward. His attacking drive does leave the defense exposed, though, due to the large space that is left vacant as well as how slow he is to track back. Ramos usually does an excellent job in covering this space as an additional defensive responsibility, but he will be unavailable for this match and that could spell trouble.

Real have been poor away from home in the league with only two wins; most of that did come under Lopetegui but the defensive openness is still an issue as they’ve had a combined xGA of 1.92 in the last two matches.

Solari has shifted them away from a patient possession-based approach to a more wing-oriented set-up similar to what Zinedine Zidane utilized, but the main difference is that they’re actually converting chances. The inconsistent Karim Benzema is still their main striker so that combined with the absence of Ramos and Casemiro shielding the defense is likely to see them drop points.