Fear grips Mourinho and four stars return: Real Madrid's expected line-up against Valencia

A test that allows no mistakes

Real Madrid face a tricky trip to the Mestalla on Saturday evening, where Valencia await them in the twelfth round of the Spanish league. Jose Mourinho won't want to drop a single point here, especially with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid set to clash in the same round.

According to the Spanish newspaper "AS", the Portuguese coach is worried about how little time his players have had to recover after the Champions League meeting with AEK Athens. Even so, he plans to field his strongest available side, well aware of just how difficult the task against Valencia will be.

At his press conference, Mourinho made no attempt to hide those concerns. He described the Valencia fixture as one of the hardest in the league, pointing to the vast experience and clear philosophy of their coach, as well as the raucous atmosphere waiting for Real Madrid at the Mestalla.

There's extra weight on this one for the Spanish giants. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid meet on Sunday, handing Real Madrid a golden chance to pounce on a slip from one or both of their rivals, provided they take care of business first.

Expect Mourinho to lean once more on the line-up that has delivered in recent weeks, specifically since the win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou, with a few changes forced by the circumstances of the past matches.

The Portuguese coach rested several key men against AEK Athens, most notably Konate, Huijsen, Tchouameni and Arda Guler. The last two didn't even travel to Greece, held back with the Valencia encounter in mind.

Konate and Huijsen should return to the heart of the defence in place of Militao and Rudiger, both of whom started in Europe. Tchouameni will cover for the absent Camavinga, and Arda Guler reclaims his spot in the starting eleven.

Mourinho also intends to push Federico Valverde back out to right-back and deploy Diomande on the left flank, hoping to sharpen the attack and exploit his ability to carve through Valencia's defence.

Up front, there's little doubt over Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman is on a remarkable scoring run, 8 goals in his last 6 matches, and he's the man Real Madrid are counting on to settle it.

According to the newspaper "AS", Real Madrid are expected to enter the match with the following line-up:

- Goalkeeper: Courtois.

- Defence: Valverde, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella.

- Midfield: Bernardo Silva, Tchouameni, Arda Guler, Bellingham, Diomande.

- Attack: Mbappe.