Overview
- Kickoff is Saturday, October 4 at 21:00 CET at the Santiago Bernabéu for LaLiga’s Jornada 8.
- Real Madrid sit second on 18 points and Villarreal third on 16, with the visitors able to go top overnight if they win.
- Madrid rebounded from a 5-2 derby loss by beating Kairat Almaty 5-0 in the Champions League as Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick; Villarreal drew 2-2 with Juventus and have three straight league wins.
- Both squads report defensive absences: Madrid are without Dani Carvajal, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Antonio Rüdiger and Ferland Mendy, with Éder Militão doubtful; Villarreal lack Juan Foyth, Gerard Moreno, Pau Navarro and Ayoze Pérez, plus long-term outs Logan Costa and Willy Kambwala.
- Broadcasters include ESPN/Disney+ across much of Latin America, DAZN/LaLiga TV in Spain and Sky Sports in Mexico, with U.S. viewing on ESPN+ and options like fubo; media project XIs led by Courtois, Mbappé and Bellingham for Madrid and Luiz Júnior, Partey, Pépé and Mikautadze for Villarreal, with Guillermo Cuadra Fernández as referee.