Real Madrid aim to break their Santiago Bernabeu hoodoo in the Liga Santander football league for this season when they entertain Espanyol in front of their fans on Sunday evening.
Real Madrid's home form in the league this season has been worrying with draws against Valencia and Levante and a defeat to Betis leaving them seven points behind FC Barcelona in the league table, reports Xinhua news agency.
Meanwhile their away form has been perfect, with last Saturday's win away to Alaves meaning they have won their last 12 league games on the road and as if to emphasis the difference, Tuesday saw them produce arguably their best display of the season to defeat Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in the Champions League.
It's unclear why there is such a difference in results at home and away this season, but the demands of the fans in the Bernabeu, where nothing else than a win will suffice, could be one reason and supporters have been quick to latch onto errors and boo players such as Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.
Benzema will miss out on Sunday with a knee injury, while Bale is doubtful after picking up a slight muscle problem in Germany and with left backs Marcelo and Theo Hernandez also absent, along with midfielder, Mateo Kovacic, Nacho Fernandez will continue on the left of the Madrid defense.
The past week saw Madrid players Marcos Llorente and Marcos Asensio both renew their contracts with the club and Asensio will look to celebrate by adding to his total of four goals for the season.
Espanyol had a slow start to the campaign and the team coached by former Madrid defender, Quique Sanchez Flores have traditionally been easy game in the Bernabeu. However, they have improved with a 0-0 draw in Villarreal and a 4-1 hammering of Deportivo la Coruna and with strikers Gerard Moreno and Leo Baptistao both in good form, Real Madrid will have to dig deep if they want to finally send their fans home happy.
--IANS
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