Real Madrid host Villarreal on Sunday evening and will be looking to preserve their four-point lead over Barcelona in La Liga with one eye on the Clasico clash just a few weeks away now.
Since their hammering by Atletco three weeks ago, Los Blancos have responded with wins over Deportivo La Coruna and Elche while Los Cules at home last week to Malaga. Atletico have also lost since the derby, effectively wiping out the disastrous result for Real.
Villarreal are always a tough opponent for Madrid and are enjoying a great season to date. They are fighting with Valencia for the fourth and final Champions League spot, but two defeats in their last four have halted their progress in recent weeks.
In terms of team news, Luka Modric could feature from the bench after recovering from the thigh problem his picked up in November and that ruled him out since then. Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale should also be fit after recovering from slight knocks.
Los Blancos will still be without a host of first team stars though through injury, including Fabio Coentrao, Sami Khedira, Sergio Ramos and James Rodriguez.
For the visitors, Mario Gaspar, Bruno Soriano, Adrian Marin and Bojan Jokic are all expected to miss the game at the Bernabeu, as will Denis Cheryshev, who is prevented from playing against his parent club while on loan.
Possible line-ups:
Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo; Silva, Kroos, Isco; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo
Villarreal: Sergio Asenjo, Rukavina, Chechu Dorado, Jaume Costa, Bailly, J. dos Santos, Sergio Marcos, Moi Gomez, G. dos Santos, Campbell, Gerard Moreno
