Real Madrid vs Elche: La Liga – teams, start, lineups, kickoff time

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Who: Real Madrid vs Elche What: Spanish football’s La Liga Where: Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain When: Saturday, March 14 at 9pm (20:00 GMT) How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport’s live coverage begins at 17:00 GMT

After stuttering and spluttering in Spain’s La Liga of late, Real Madrid stormed back into life with a resounding win in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.

Now the record La Liga winners return their focus on catching league leaders, and defending champions, Barcelona, in the Spanish top flight.

Elche arrive in Madrid with major concerns of their own, sitting one place above the relegation zone.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a closer look at the game.

Barcelona are four points clear of Real, having both played 27 matches. Barca have won 22 of their matches and lost four, while Real have lost that same number but have only won 20, drawing two more games than their rivals.

Barcelona entertain 14th-placed Seville on Sunday, meaning Real can cut the lead to just a point if they beat Elche.

The turbulent time that marked the end of Xabi Alonso’s spell as Real manager appeared to return in recent weeks, with Los Blancos losing two on the bounce in La Liga for the first time this season.

With a tricky trip to Celta Vigo following the defeats by Osasuna and Getafe, Real’s title challenge appeared on the line.

A 2-1 win in Vigo, thanks to goals from Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde, last Friday cut Barca’s lead at the top to only a point, only for the Catalan club to restore their advantage with a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Los Blancos had won 13 of their opening 14 games in all competitions this season, only dropping points in the 5-2 defeat in the Madrid derby at Atletico.

The two wins in eight that followed set the tone for the remainder of Alonso’s time in charge, even five wins on the bounce thereafter couldn’t save the former Real midfielder from the chop, with the end coming following the Spanish Super Cup final 3-2 defeat by Barcelona.

Interim head coach, Alvaro Arbeloa, endured a torrid start – with a humiliating 3-2 defeat at Albacete in the Copa del Rey, but won the next five league games on the bounce to renew hope of catching Barcelona.

Elche were unbeaten in their opening seven games of the season, all in the league, winning four.

A seven-match winless run followed in La Liga, plunging the Alicante-based club into the relegation scrap.

Their latest winless run stretches to 11 matches – 10 in La Liga – with seven defeats in that time and only four league points snared.

Eder Sarabia’s side are now just one point and one place above the bottom three and are the only side in the competition yet to win away from home this season – losing nine of their 13 games on the road.

Real’s season was given a welcome boost in midweek with a resounding 3-0 win against Manchester City – led by former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola – in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie.

Valverde, who netted the winner last weekend in Vigo, scored a first-half hat-trick to hand Los Blancos a significant advantage heading to Manchester for the return fixture.

Elche were defeated 2-1 at Villarreal in La Liga last Sunday, in what was their fifth consecutive defeat on their travels.

The last four of those came in the league, while the run began with their Copa del Rey exit at Real Betis.

Leo Petrot had given Elche the lead in the 58th minute, but a double from Chimy Avila turned the game.

Elche are yet to keep a clean sheet on their travels in the league this season. In the 13 games on the road, they have conceded 26 goals – but, on a more optimistic note, they have managed to score in all but two of those games.

Elche secured a valuable point in a 2-2 draw in the reverse match against Real in La Liga this season.

Aleix Febas and Alvaro Rodriguez twice gave the home side the lead, the latter netting in the 84th minute, but Dean Huijsen and Jude Bellingham twice levelled for Los Blancos, before Victor Chust was sent off for the home side in injury time.

Real were 3-0 winners in this fixture in October 2022, with Federico Valverde, Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio netting the goals.

Los Blancos took the reverse fixture 4-0 in February 2023.

It has been a long wait for Elche to come away with the spoils in this fixture, with their last win – a 3-1 victory – coming in 1978.

The teams have met 54 times, with Real winning 35 of the encounters. Elche have emerged victorious on six occasions.

All six of Elche’s victories have come at home.

Kylian Mbappe’s absence remains Real’s major frustration, but the French striker heads a long list of absentees.

Ferland Mendy is a major doubt, having been forced off in the victory against Manchester City due to injury.

The defender could join Mbappe, Eder Militao, Jude Bellingham, Dani Ceballos and Rodrygo on the sidelines

Franco Mastantuono is suspended for the game, but Alvaro Carreras and David Alaba are both close to shaking off calf injuries.

Hector Fort, who is on loan from Barcelona, is out with a shoulder injury.

Pedro Bigas and John Donald are both injury doubts and face late fitness tests.

Courtois; Carvajal, Asencio, Huijsen, F Garcia; Valverde, Camavinga, Tchouameni; Guler; Vinicius, Brahim

Dituro; Chust, Affengruber, Petrot; Josan, Febas, Aguado, Valera; Neto; A Silva, Rodriguez