Out-of-form Real Madrid seek a second win in six La Liga matches when they visit Alaves on Sunday.
Los Blancos are seven points behind leaders Barcelona with a game in hand and followed a 2-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo on Sunday by losing 2-1 to visitors Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Alaves beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in a derby on December 6 and have taken 14 of their 18 league points at home this season.
101GreatGoals.com has full Alaves vs Real Madrid team news and you can follow live text updates here.
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Alavés starting lineup against Madrid
Central defender Facundo Garces was suspended for 12 months by FIFA in November for alleged falsification of documents.
Former Barcelona midfielder Carles Alena, who came on as a substitute in Saturday’s 1-0 home derby win against Sociedad, has recovered from a virus.
“I knew I would be asked more questions about our opponents than about Alaves,” said coach Eduardo Coudet. “It’s not for me to comment on this, but Real Madrid are a very prestigious opponent and they have a coach who deserved his job for a reason.
“It will be very difficult because they have a lot of resources, but we will try to maintain our style and take initiatives.
“I like playing these matches – against the best – and I don’t focus on their form or their injuries.
“Everyone who plays for Real Madrid is very good and to beat them we will need a great match. This makes for more complex matches than usual.”
Alaves starting XI: Antonio Sivera, Jonny, Nahuel Tenaglia, Jon Pacheco, Victor Parada, Calebe, Pablo Ibanez, Antonio Blanco, Denis Suarez, Abde Rebbach, Lucas Boye
Alavès substitutes: Raul Fernandez, Youssef Enriquez, Ander Guevara, Carlos Vicente, Mariano Diaz, Carles Alena, Toni Martinez, Jon Guridi, Moussa Diarra, Carlos Protesoni, Ruben Montero, Aitor Manas
Real Madrid starting lineup against Alavés
Madrid are heavily depleted in defense, with Alvaro Carreras and Fran Garcia suspended and David Alaba, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Eduardo Camavinga and Trent Alexander-Arnold injured.
Defender Víctor Valdepenas, 19, starts, with Arda Guler restored to midfield and La Liga’s top scorer with 16 goals, Kylian Mbappe, returning after missing the defeat to City with knee pain.
“Despite the losses, we have enough strength to win tomorrow,” said under-pressure coach Xabi Alonso.
“It’s a very important match. The most important thing is the team and the club. We want to change the dynamic against tough opponents.”
Attacker Endrick is banned.
Real Madrid starting lineup: Thibaut Courtois, Federico Valverde, Raul Atencio, Antonio Rudiger, Valde, Arda Guler, Aurélien Tchoauueni, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Kylian Mbape, Vinicius Junior, Vindict
Madrid substitutes: Andrei Lunin, Gonzalo Garcia,
How to watch Alaves vs Madrid: Live Stream Online, TV Channel
Kick-off on Sunday will be at 8:00 p.m. GMT (3:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. PT), with live coverage in the UK on Premier Sports 1 and streaming available on a wide range of devices via the Premier Sports app.
A Premier Sports subscription costs £120 per year, £11.99 per month on a 12-month contract or £16.99 per month with 30 days’ notice of cancellation required.
Alavés vs Real Madrid Statistics
- Alavés have taken 14 of their 18 La Liga points at home this season, including 10 of their last 15 available at the Mendizorrotza Stadium.
- Getafe (14.1) are the only team to have a lower goals allowed total than El Glorioso (15) in La Liga this season.
- Only Madrid (7) and Barcelona (5) have been awarded more penalties in the 2025/26 division than Alavés, who converted them all to ensure only Los Blancos (5) have scored more from the penalty spot.
- Coudet’s side have made the fourth most tackles and interceptions combined in the top flight this season, behind Sevilla (399), Madrid (400) and Villarreal (402).
- Since the start of the La Liga season, Alavés is the second winner of aerial duels (257, behind Osasuna with 265). They also lost third place (246, with Espanyol with 262 and Getafe with 306).
- Mbappé’s 16 league goals for Madrid make the French captain La Liga’s top scorer, just ahead of Barcelona’s Ferran Torres, who has eight.
- Mbappe’s four assists in La Liga mean he has seven more direct goals in La Liga than the next most prolific player in this regard, Barca’s Lamine Yamal (who has six goals and seven assists).
- Vinicius Junior (5) is the only other player to have scored more than four goals in Madrid’s first 16 league matches.
- Madrid have the highest success percentage of short (93.5%), medium (91.6%) and long (64.4%) passes in the 2025/26 division
- They have made the most tackles (57) of any team in La Liga this season in the attacking third, with Barcelona second with 49.
