LIVE: Real Madrid vs Alaves – La Liga

Midfielder Carlos Protesoni has been ruled out with an injury, while left wing-back Abde Rebbach will miss out due to suspension after he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.

Alaves have no other reported injuries.

Lucas Boye may earn himself a start after coming off the bench to score in the last two games.

Predicted Alaves starting lineup

Sivera; Perez, Otto, Tenaglia, Parada, Yusi; Ibanez, Blanco, Guridi; Martinez, Boye

📋✅ Our starting XI!
🆚 @Alaves pic.twitter.com/9rVc1xGvAb

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) April 21, 2026

Andrey Lunin will continue to deputise in goal as first choice keeper, Thibaut Courtois remains unavailable with the thigh injury that has forced him to miss the last five games.

Rodrygo will be on the sidelines for quite a while longer due to the anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained at the beginning of March.

Defender Raul Asencio will miss the game due to gastroenteritis.

However, key midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni will return after missing the defeat to Bayern through suspension.

Predicted Real Madrid starting lineup

Lunin; Alexander-Arnold, Militao, Rudiger, Carreras; Valverde, Tchouameni, Guler, Bellingham; Mbappe, Vinicius Jr

📋✅ Our squad for the match!
🆚 @Alaves pic.twitter.com/Qyd5n0mfkk

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) April 21, 2026

Alaves secured a valuable La Liga point in a 3-3 draw at Real Sociedad in their last outing.

The away side twice took the lead in the match on Saturday, April 11, but were trailing in the final minute of the game before Lucas Boye produced an equaliser.

Bayern Munich’s Luis Diaz and Michael ⁠Olise scored ⁠late goals to give the hosts a dramatic 4-3 win over Real Madrid ⁠in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals and send them into the last four on a 6-4 aggregate score after a thrilling tie.

Diaz struck in the 89th minute and Olise in stoppage time on Wednesday to seal Bayern’s place in the semis, ‌where they will play holders Paris St Germain.

In a pulsating first half, Real took the lead three times, with Arda Guler pouncing on a terrible mistake by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer in the first minute before whipping ⁠a free kick into the ⁠top corner in the 29th after Bayern had levelled through an Aleksandar Pavlovic header.

Harry Kane put the hosts, 2-1 winners in ⁠the first leg in Spain, level with his 12th goal ⁠in the competition this season ⁠before the visitors hit the woodwork through Vinicius Jr, who delivered a perfect assist in the 42nd minute for Kylian ‌Mbappe to make it 3-2.

Real were reduced to 10 men in the 86th minute after substitute ‌Eduardo ‌Camavinga earned his second booking, and Bayern took full advantage.

Click here to read our full match report or here to review our live coverage.

Iran’s football team is preparing for the World Cup, but a final decision on its participation in the tournament will be taken by the government, the country’s sport minister says.

“If the safety of the national team’s players in the United States is ensured, we will travel to the World Cup,” Iran’s Sports and Youth Minister Ahmad Donyamali was quoted as saying by Iran’s Tasnim news agency on Thursday.

“The decision will be made by the government and the Supreme National Security Council,” he added.

Team Melli are scheduled to play all their World Cup games in the US, one of the three host nations alongside Canada and Mexico, but their participation has been uncertain since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.

The doubts surrounding Iran’s role in the tournament remain as a fragile Pakistan-mediated ceasefire between Tehran and Washington nears its deadline on Thursday.

Donyamali, speaking to Iranian media, insisted that the team will continue to train for the World Cup regardless of the ongoing geopolitical tensions.

“The national team may not go to the World Cup, but if we are going to participate, we must be ready,” he said.

Real Madrid’s match takes centre stage on Tuesday, while Barcelona are top of the agenda on Wednesday.

Los Blancos return to action on Friday in their clash with Real Betis:

🤩A FULL WEEK OF #LALIGAEASPORTS pic.twitter.com/XkKhf6ykwb

— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) April 21, 2026

Marie-Louise Eta is making history as the first female head coach of a men’s team in Europe’s top five leagues.

Al Jazeera’s Samantha Johnson takes a look in our latest edition of Game Theory:

Hello, welcome and thanks for joining our live coverage of Real Madrid against Alaves in La Liga.

Barcelona, who entertain Celta Vigo on Wednesday, top La Liga by nine points with only seven games to play.

With both Spanish giants eliminated from the UEFA Champions League, the league title is the last piece of silverware for the sides to battle for this season.

Alaves have their own concerns at the other end of the table, where they are in danger of dropping into the relegation zone.

I’m Kevin Hand, and I’ll bring you the live build-up, with all the permutations in the league, and photo coverage of the day, plus the news, analysis and opinion surrounding the game.

Manasi Pathak will bring you the team news as it lands and our comprehensive text commentary stream of the match.

In the meantime, click here for our full match preview.

7 games to go.... Who will make TOP 6? 🔥 pic.twitter.com/wsxkLPTHws

— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) April 20, 2026