So I just spent my whole Saturday morning getting ready for the Real Madrid vs Valencia match, right? Wanted to see the confirmed lineups early but man, what a circus finding accurate info turned out to be.
Chasing Down the Lineups Like a Madman
Woke up super early all excited. First thing grabbed my phone and opened the ESPN app. Saw their “projected” lineup – had Nacho listed as center-back. Felt something off immediately. My gut was screaming “No way Nacho starts after that Copa disaster!” But ESPN seemed so confident. Trusted it and brewed some coffee.
Scrolled Twitter while sipping my coffee. Big mistake. A “Real Madrid Insider” account with a blue checkmark posted a different XI – Tchouameni at CB instead. Comment section blew up with fans arguing. Felt like my brain was melting before 10am. Had to physically walk to my laptop and open four browser tabs for this:
- Official La Liga site (still showing last week’s lineup)
- Marca’s live blog (they kept refreshing like crazy)
- A random Spanish fan forum (using Chrome translate)
- Real Madrid app push notifications (praying for updates)
My girlfriend yelled “BREAKFAST!” and I practically spilled coffee yelling back “LINEUPS FIRST!” Yeah. Priorities.
The Mess Before the Confirmation
Felt like forever watching all these sites contradict each other. Saw one tweet saying Rudiger WAS fit. Next tweet said he was “doubtful.” Started sweating over my scrambled eggs. Saw a wild rumor about Lunin replacing Kepa – absolutely no logic there! Couldn’t trust anything.
Then boom! Official team sheet PDF dropped at like 10:45. Raced to pull it up. This was the REAL deal. No guesses. No projections.
- Kepa was IN goal (obviously)
- Tchouameni AND Nacho together? NO! Just Rudiger and Tchouameni at CB! (Nacho benched, phew)
- Midfield shocked me – Kroos AND Modric both STARTING with Valverde? Fede deep?
- Front three: VINI JR, Joselu, Rodrygo. Solid.
Immediately felt stupid for trusting ESPN’s projection earlier.
Valencia Side Was Predictable
Their lineup? Not much drama there.
- Mamardashvili in net. Always solid.
- Back four with Gaya, Mosquera, Paulista, Foulquier
- Midfield trio looked like Pepelu, Guillamon, and Hugo
- Front three: Peter Federico, Duro, and Diego Lopez
Squad bench? Mostly kids and a backup keeper. No surprises. Decent setup but honestly, way less stressful confirming than Madrid’s circus.
What I Learned Trying to Confirm This Stuff
Lesson hammered into me today?
- NEVER trust “projected” lineups before the official sheet drops. Wasted brain cells stressing over Nacho vs Tchouameni.
- OFFICIAL sources ONLY. La Liga, club apps, proper sports registries. Everything else is noise.
- Spanish forums actually move faster than English sites sometimes.
Ended up eating cold eggs. Was it worth it? Watching Rudiger and Tchouameni boss the defense? Absolutely. But next derby? I’m waiting for that PDF. No more breakfast time headaches.
