Time to put on the afterburners

All eyes will be on the intensity, attitude and confidence of Real Madrid on Wednesday night as Osasuna visit the Santiago Bernabéu in LaLiga. Los Blancos showed a much-improved performance to take a 1-0 victory away from Seville at the weekend and now madrididstas will be keen to see that result and performance was not just a one-off as Zinedine Zidane and his men target a place at the top of the table with victory over the newly-promoted club. The three points against Julen Lopetegui's side will count for nothing if Madrid fail to follow-up with another victory on home soil against a side they are expected to beat with ease, albeit a side arriving in the Spanish capital with an undefeated record since their return to the top flight. Zidane will be targeting a jet-heeled start, eager to plant more confidence in a side that grew in stature in Andalusia on Sunday night. A confident, attacking performance will be demanded by those in attendance tonight. Gareth Bale will miss out, failing to make Zidane's 19-man squad and perhaps being rested for Saturday's big Derbi match against Atlético, and Ferland Mendy is also absent through injury. That means Nacho is likely to take up a position on the left side of the Madrid defence, while Zidane will likely go for Lucas Vazquez or Vinicius Jr. in attack alongside the in-form Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard. As well as three points and a positive performance, Zidane will also be keen for back-to-back clean sheets ahead of a much tougher proposition this weekend.