MADRID, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid entertain Celta Vigo in the Liga Santander on Sunday night looking for three more points in their quest for this season's league title but coach Zinedine Zidane could also have an eye on Europe.
Real Madrid's return to Champions League action against Manchester City on February 26 and although their European rivals are in shock after being handed a two-year ban from European competition by UEFA on Friday for breaches of financial fair play regulations, it still promises to be one of the toughest tests of the season for Zidane's men.
Bearing this in mind, the coach will look to rest some players against Celta on Sunday night and the following weekend when they visit Levante.
That could give a run out for Marcelo at left back as Zidane looks to rest Ferland Mendy, who has shown himself to be much more reliable than the Brazilian, while Casemiro could also find himself on the bench, given his importance to the team in central midfield.
Players such as Lucas Vazquez, Militao and Luka Jovic could also start, although Zidane will resist making sweeping changes he introduced in the Copa del Rey defeat to Real Sociedad 10 days ago. The Frenchman made seven changes for that game and watched on as their rivals produced a shock 4-3 win at the Bernabeu.
Eden Hazard will return to action on Sunday as he makes his reappearance after almost three months out with an ankle injury. The plan is to try and have him at full fitness for the Manchester City game, but the Belgian is unlikely to play more than 30 minutes against Celta.
Celta travel to Madrid after a 2-1 win to Sevilla last weekend with two goals in the last 10 minutes. That win lifted Oscar Garcia's men out of the relegation zone, but depending on results elsewhere they could have dropped back into the bottom three by kick off time on Sunday.
Oscar is likely to favor a five-man defense with Jeison Murillo slotting into the back line, while up front he will look to Iago Aspas, Rafinha and the talented by irregular Pione Sisto to try and cause problems for a Madrid defense that has conceded just 14 goals in 23 league games to date.
