The return of the Militao-Nacho centre-back pairing for Real Madrid

David Alaba and Eder Militao started the season well together in the heart of Real Madrid's defence, but with the Austrian now injured, Nacho Fernandez will be called upon to start at centre-half alongside the Brazilian when Los Blancos host Sevilla on Sunday night.

It comes at a time when Real Madrid are entering the busy festive schedule in LaLiga Santander, with many doubters suggesting that they are still some way off replacing Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane.

Carlo Ancelotti has been complimentary of Nacho in recent times, too.

"Nacho's professionalism is top class. I know that I can always count on him, even though it might only be to play five minutes," the Italian coach said after Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Sheriff.

A headache for Ancelotti

Real Madrid face Sevilla on Sunday with somewhat of a defensive crisis going on. Left-back Ferland Mendy has not long returned to action, and now Alaba has been added to the injury list, so Nacho and Militao will have their work cut out against Julen Lopetegui's side.

The game at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu will be a test of Real Madrid's character to remain at the top of the league. Should they lose, then Sevilla, currently two points behind Los Blancos, will leapfrog them in the table.

Same old story for Real Madrid

Last February, former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane had both Varane and Ramos injured, forcing him to play Militao and Nacho together.

The duo performed excellently both domestically and in Europe, but ultimately it wasn't enough to help the team win anything domestically and in the Champions League, being knocked out of the latter by Chelsea.

A reliable partnership

Earlier this season, Ancelotti had to call on Nacho-Militao pairing for their Champions League game away against Inter on Matchday 1.

In that game, Militao and Nacho came under pressure but kept their solidity and held out, as Rodrygo Goes scored a late winner in Italy. They will be looking for a similar outcome against Sevilla.

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