Zinedine Zidane was forced to shuffle his defence as Eder Militao came in for Real Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Liverpool on Tuesday.
With Raphael Varane testing positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday morning and Sergio Ramos out injured, Militao was picked in central defence alongside Nacho Fernandez.
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp handed Naby Keita a surprise start in midfield ahead of Thiago Alcantara.
The in-form Diogo Jota was also preferred to Roberto Firmino, with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane completing Liverpool’s front three.
Starting line-ups for the Champions League quarter-final first leg between Real Madrid and Liverpool at Valdebebas on Tuesday (kick-off 1900 GMT): Real Madrid (4-3-3)
![[FILE] Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (L) runs with the ball as Arsenal’s Brazilian defender Gabriel closes in during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London. (Photo by Catherine Ivill / POOL / AFP)](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/000_97B779-scaled-e1703231851386-120x86.jpg "Liverpool host Arsenal in battle for Premier League Christmas No. 1 2")
Thibaut Courtois; Lucas Vazquez, Eder Militao, Nacho Fernandez, Ferland Mendy; Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric; Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior
Coach: Zinedine Zidane (FRA)
Liverpool (4-3-3)
Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ozan Kabak, Nat Phillips, Andrew Robertson; Naby Keita, Fabinho, Georginio Wijnaldum; Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Sadio Mane
Coach: Jurgen Klopp (GER)
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
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