Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will make his first start of the season against Cadiz on Saturday after making a full recovery from two knee injuries, Carlo Ancelotti has revealed.
Ancelotti, however, will remain cautious with Courtois, who has not played since suffering torn ligaments 13 months ago, with Andriy Lunin set to return for Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich.
"The decisive game we have in mind, a final, is Wednesday's match against Bayern, where Lunin will play. After that, we'll see what happens," Ancelotti said on Friday.
"Courtois is fine, he will play tomorrow after a long, long time. It's good news that he's coming back, just like [Eder] Militao.
"Courtois can contribute, he's feeling good, he's very excited. We are delighted to have him back."
Lunin has established himself as Ancelotti's preferred deputy in Courtois' absence, seeing off competition from Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Lunin was Madrid's hero as they beat Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals, making two saves in their 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory after an inspired performance in a 1-1 second-leg draw.
Courtois, however, is widely considered to be one of the world's best goalkeepers and the Belgian is likely to regain his starting spot soon, with a LaLiga and Champions League double in Madrid's sights.
He was named man-of-the-match in the 2022 Champions League final after making nine saves to deny Liverpool as Madrid clinched a record-extending 14th European title with a 1-0 win in Paris.
Brazil centre-back Militao returned in late March after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in August, making his first start in last week's win at Real Sociedad in LaLiga.
"We were too passive against Bayern. We have to be more active. So Militao will play tomorrow to get into a rhythm," Ancelotti said.
"We are only thinking about the 'final' on Wednesday. We don't think about what might happen in a month's time. Hopefully, soon we can start looking further ahead, it will mean we'll make the final in London."
With five games left, Ancelotti's side top the LaLiga standings on 84 points, 11 ahead of Barca and 13 clear of third-placed Girona. They can clinch a record-extending 36th Spanish title if they beat Cadiz and Barcelona fail to win at Girona later on Saturday.
Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa: Kaneryd hands Bompastor first win
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's first-half goal was enough to secure Chelsea a 1-0 win over Aston Villa, getting Sonia Bompastor off to a winning start in the Women's Super League.
In a tightly contested tie that could have gone either way, the reigning champions showed their quality to earn the first three points of the WSL season.
Missy Bo Kearns almost got the first goal of Robert de Pauw's reign at Villa 13 minutes in, but was narrowly wide of netting on her debut, while Guro Reiten narrowly missed two glorious chances for the hosts.
Kaneryd scored the winner in the 36th minute – it looked like she had overrun the ball, but she expertly cut back inside to whip a lovely shot past Sabrina D'Angelo into the back of the net.
Villa made a lightning-quick start to the second half, with Kenza Dali's early cross being met by Rachel Daly, but her looping header only rattled Hannah Hampton's crossbar.
The visitors then had two brilliant opportunities to level the score in stoppage time, but Hampton superbly defended her clean sheet, first denying Daly before tipping D'Angelo's header onto the crossbar.
Data Debrief: Off to a flyer
Chelsea's game against Aston Villa is the first time they have played a game in the WSL without Emma Hayes in the dugout since July 2012 (a 4-2 loss under Matt Beard).
Bompastor ensured the reigning champions got off to a winning start though, maintaining their 100% record against Villa by stretching their run to nine wins in a row.
In the opposite dugout, though De Pauw is still waiting for his first win and goal in charge of the Villans, he did get a small slice of history, becoming the first Dutch manager to manage a game in the WSL.
Real Salt Lake v Portland Timbers: Neville backs 'MVP level' Evander for more success
Phil Neville heaped praise on Portland Timbers' star man Evander and has urged him to bring his fighting spirit to their clash with Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
The Timbers have lost just one of their last four MLS matches, though that did come in their last road match against Colorado Rapids.
They sit eighth in the Western Conference after beating leaders LA Galaxy 4-2 in midweek.
Evander was the star of that game, and Neville is hoping he can make a similar impact when they travel to Salt Lake.
"In Evander, we've got someone playing to an MVP level," Neville said.
"I said it from probably the first month of the season that he's the best number 10 in the league and people laughed at me, but what I've seen is someone who is an incredible footballer with an incredible talent.
"We're proud to have him in our organisation. He's fighting like mad for the team."
Meanwhile, RSL are up to second in the table following their midweek win over FC Dallas.
They have alternated between a win and a loss since the MLS restarted after the Leagues Cup, and head coach Pablo Mastroeni is wary of the threat they will face from Portland.
"I think if there's an early goal it will open a little bit, but Portland defend really well as a team and their front four are some of the best in the league," he told KSL Sports.
"The onus is on us to be defensively tight, compact, to not allow easy chances for these guys. More important for us is to take advantage of our opportunities.
"We need to finetune that defensive mentality because games are getting tighter, so for us, it's about doing everything really good."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Real Salt Lake – Anderson Julio
Anderson Julio notched his second brace of the season in Real Salt Lake's win over FC Dallas.
Julio is the third RSL player with multiple games with 2+ goals in 2024 (Cristian Arango – five, Andres Gomez – four), making this season the first time the club has had three different players with 2+ multi-goal games.
Portland Timbers – Evander
Evander had two goals and an assist on Wednesday to move his regular season totals for 2024 to 14 goals and 17 assists.
This is the 23rd time an MLS player has had 17 or more assists in a single regular season with Evander's 14 goals being the most during any of those (next-most, 12 by Preki in 1997 & 2003).
MATCH PREDICTION: REAL SALT LAKE WIN
Salt Lake have hit the 50-point mark for the second consecutive season after reaching the milestone just once in the previous seven full seasons (2015-22). This is the second time RSL have recorded 50 points in consecutive seasons, also doing so in five straight years from 2010-14.
However, they have often struggled against Portland, who have lost only two of their last 14 regular season meetings with Salt Lake (W9 D3) dating back to the start of the 2017 season. Only Los Angeles FC (11) has more wins over RSL in that time.
Portland have won only two of their last 14 road matches in all competitions though (D3 L9), including losing the last four away from home. Seven of the nine defeats in that time have been by one-goal margins.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Real Salt Lake – 45.6%
Draw – 26.8%
Portland Timbers – 27.6%
CF Montreal v Chicago Fire: Klopas aiming for improvements away from home
Chicago Fire head coach Frank Klopas was left to rue missed opportunities in their 1-0 defeat to Nashville SC in their last MLS encounter.
The Fire travel to face an in-form CF Montreal side at the Stade Saputo this weekend, a ground they have found relative success at over the past couple of seasons.
Klopas’ side currently occupy 14th place in the Eastern Conference standings but are four points from the playoffs.
Sam Surridge’s only goal compounded Chicago to a 15th loss of the season, and Klopas explained how his side’s lacklustre approach cost them in midweek.
“They scored the goal, but we still had a whole second half where we dominated the ball, but the speed of play had to be better,” said Klopas.
“When you have 10 guys behind the ball you have to move the ball quicker. They needed to do it in those moments, and we needed to get crosses in but we didn’t.
“It’s always difficult on the road but look who the first goal came. I think we could have done better all round as a team. We had our moments but didn’t take advantage of them.”
Montreal, meanwhile, came from two goals down to salvage a point in their 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution last time out, leaving them a place ahead of this weekend’s opponents.
One of Montreal’s scorers was new arrival Tom Pearce after making the move to the MLS in July from League One side Wigan Athletic.
The 26-year-old’s first career goal in the division saw him become the first player from the United Kingdom to score a regular season goal in MLS for Montreal.
And Pearce believes that despite Montreal being two points behind the playoffs, they can make it to the right side of the line in the final five games of the campaign.
“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn't in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point," Pearce said.
"We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game.
"Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
CF Montreal – Josef Martinez
After returning from a knee injury with three goals in his last 10 appearances, Martinez will be keen to strike against a side he has enjoyed recent fixtures against.
The Venezuelan has eight goal contributions (six goals and two assists) against the Fire, a total he has only bettered against four other sides in the MLS.
Chicago Fire – Tobias Salquist
Salquist completed 104 passes in the Fire’s defeat at Nashville SC, the second-most by a Fire player in an MLS match since Opta began detailed data collection of the league in 2010 (Bastian Schweinsteiger – 117 vs. Orlando City in June 2017).
MATCH PREDICTION: CF MONTREAL WIN
Montreal has lost only two of their last 11 home matches in all competitions (W5 D4), including winning three of the last five. Montreal have not won consecutive home matches in a single season since an eight-match home winning streak from April to June last year.
Chicago was held scoreless in their loss to Nashville, the Fire’s ninth time being shutout in an MLS game this season. The only team to be held without a goal in more MLS matches in 2024 is the Coyotes (10).
However, the Fire have lost only two of their 14 all-time visits to Montreal (W9 D3), including winning four of the last five trips. Chicago have not lost in Montreal since a 1-0 defeat in 2017.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
CF Montreal – 45.9%
Draw – 26.7%
Chicago Fire – 27.4%
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