Jude Bellingham and Denzel Dumfries will return to the Real Madrid starting lineup when they take on Atletico Madrid at Estadio Metropolitano on Sunday.

Real Madrid will aim to keep pace with Barcelona atop La Liga when they lock horns with Atletico Madrid at Estadio Metropolitano on Sunday evening. Jose Mourinho has no new injury concerns to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.

Eder Militao (muscle), Ferland Mendy (hip), and Rodrygo (knee) are the only absentees as they continue to work their way back from their injuries. Otherwise, Mourinho has a full-strength squad to take on Atletico Madrid this weekend.

During his pre-match press conference, Mourinho did not provide a fitness update on any player. Instead, the Portuguese tactician discussed the need to preserve his team’s form and not risk falling behind Barcelona in the race to win the 2026/27 La Liga title.

The Real Madrid manager said, “I don’t know if I’ll manage it. That’s my intention, and the players’ too. We’ve tried to find a way to work on the areas we need to improve, and this is a process. If there are people who have been coaching their clubs for ten years running, they always talk about process, development and working to improve.”

“Imagine we’ve only been together for a few months and we need to improve. We worked hard yesterday and we’re doing the same today, because there are things we need to improve on and we have a lot of confidence in ourselves. But we’re also humble enough to recognise that we need to work to improve.”

Thibaut Courtois is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Real Madrid lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Atletico Madrid on Sunday. The backline will feature Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate, Dean Huijsen, and Marc Cucurella.

As for the midfield unit, Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni will pair up in the double pivot, with Jude Bellingham reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Kylian Mbappe will lead the line for the away side, with Vinicius Junior and Arda Guler being the two wide attackers.

Predicted Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Tchouameni; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius Junior; Mbappe