Madrid, Feb 21 (IANS) Table-topper Real Madrid will travel to one of La Liga’s most hostile grounds on Saturday to play Osasuna in the El Sadar Stadium in Pamplona.

Alvaro Arbeloa’s side travels to the north of Spain as the new La Liga leader, after last weekend’s 4-1 win at home to Real Sociedad, and FC Barcelona’s 2-1 defeat in Girona saw the two teams swap places in the standings.

Madrid also took a big step towards the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday with their 1-0 first-leg playoff round win away to Benfica in a game marred by alleged insults towards goalscorer Vinicius Jr, reports Xinhua.

Vinicius are almost certain to start in Pamplona, although Arbeloa could be tempted to rest Kylian Mbappe for next week’s return leg at home to Benfica, while Jude Bellingham is still out with a hamstring injury.

Brahim Diaz, Gonzalo Garcia, and Dani Carvajal all have a chance of starting if Arbeloa decides to rotate his squad.

Osasuna have improved after a slow start to the season under coach Alessio Lisci and are currently 10th in La Liga after a five-game unbeaten run. Veteran striker Ante Budimir will be a constant threat to Real Madrid, and the Croatian has 11 goals in La Liga this season.

Winger Victor Munoz has also been a big success for Osasuna this season after joining last summer from Real Madrid, which retains 50 percent of the 22-year-old’s rights.

The pace of Munoz and the recent arrival of Raul Moro give Osasuna options on the wings, and Munoz is likely to try and cause problems behind Trent Alexander-Arnold or Carvajal down Real Madrid’s right-hand side.

–IANS

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