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Real Madrid will take on Valencia this weekend in La Liga, before traveling to Liverpool for the Champions League clash at Anfield — with Xabi Alonso hinting his priority for now is domestically.
This weekend, Liverpool hosts Aston Villa at Anfield, hoping to get back on track in the Premier League. At the same time, Real Madrid is set to play at the Bernabeu, looking to maintain a five-point lead at the top of the Spanish top flight.
Last season, Liverpool topped the Champions League group phase before being drawn against PSG in the round of 16. Real Madrid only progressed to the knockout phase after finishing 11th.
For that reason, some managers will have to choose priorities throughout the league phase in Europe. Winning in their domestic league, for those who are in a strong position in Europe and facing a relentless schedule, might have to take precedence.
With that in mind, Alonso has hinted that he could make changes when his team goes to Liverpool. Not just because the Valencia game comes first, that will be the most important of the week.
"If we lose that concentration even a little, we'll drop points, and we don't want that to happen," Alonso said in a press conference today.
"In the Champions League, you can drop points and then recover them. In La Liga, it's not like that: it's a marathon. We're on a good run and we don't want to slow down.
"I'm thinking about Valencia and Rayo [Vallecano]. Valencia won at the Bernabeu last year, so we can't relax.
"[Carlos] Corberan is a coach who prepares his teams well and Valencia has quality with good players. We have to be alert because sometimes you can let your guard down after a big win."
French superstar Kylian Mbappe has played a high volume of minutes this season — the most in the Real Madrid squad — and Alonso says he will have to manage the game time of some key men.
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"I'm always concerned about the workload, about not pushing the players too hard," Alonso said. "You also have to be aware of the effort and demands they're under.
"There comes a time when you have to create those spaces for some players more regularly, but you have to understand the right time for everything. With Kylian, it's been like that so far, but we'll see what the future holds."
Real Madrid has some wriggle room in the Champions League having won all three games in Europe so far this season, overcoming Marseille, Kairat Almaty and Juventus.
Liverpool has beaten Atletico Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt but lost 1-0 in Turkiye against Galatasaray.
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