Real Madrid vs Las Palmas on matchday 20 is one match that promises to be exciting in the 2024/25 LaLiga season.
The reverse fixture at Estadio de Gran Canaria was a shock for Spanish football fans. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, but the shocker was that Las Palmas, who were on a winless streak of 18 matches, managed to not lose to the defending champions by keeping Kylian Mbappé—unanimously believed to be the world’s best player at the time—and his cohorts quiet. In fact, it took a penalty kick from Vinícius Jr in the 69th minute to prevent a loss after the Canary Islanders had gone ahead in the fifth minute.
Oliver McBurnie scored a blockbuster free transfer to Las Palmas in the summer and though the move was not the highest-value one, it surprised many that the former Bradford and Sheffield United man left England for Spain. By the time Real Madrid came round, he had still not scored a goal and the transfer was beginning to look very ordinary.
However, the high profile of the opponents seemed to spur him to show his creative side as he created Las Palmas’ goal in the first five minutes of the match. McBurnie latched on to an optimistic through ball and set up Alberto Moleiro, who beat Aurélien Tchouaméni to score.
Madrid pushed and pushed after that, with their biggest chance being denied by former FC Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen when he tipped away Federico Valverde’s free kick. Los Amarillos did not give up and surged forward when they had the chance. However, another Cillessen save from a powerful Antonio Rüdiger shot proved to be the key moment of the first half for the hosts, who were happy to take the lead into the break.
Rodrygo’s introduction in the second half increased the tempo of the game and shots began to rain down on Cillessen’s goal from Real Madrid’s attackers as a result. The Netherlands international was on top form for all of them but his team’s attack could not muster anything at the other end to augment his efforts.
Then just after the hour mark, another Madrid attack led to Álex Suárez handling the ball in the penalty area. The resulting spot kick was dispatched coolly by Vinícius, marking the first—and only—time Cillessen would be beaten in that match.
The club and its fans were immediately drawn into the negative headspace that they had to deal with when Vinícius netted a similarly timed equaliser to catalyse a Real Madrid win last season, but they showed amazing mental fortitude.
They reclaimed the match, with former Barcelona Athletic captain Mika Mármol forcing a save from Thibaut Courtois a thunderous Javi Muñoz strike ruled out for offside.
Unfortunately, time ran out for them but they were able to score their first point against Real Madrid since 2017.
Luis Carrión, manager at the time of that match, has left his role for Diego Martínez, who took this same team to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Montjuic, Barcelona, and defeated FC Barcelona on the wake of their 125th anniversary celebrations.
Never has Las Palmas been able to do a double on either team. Matchday 20 will be a rare opportunity to do so, which makes this game one to look forward to.
Read on for all the information on matchday tickets as well as team news. We also give predictions on what the starting XIs of both teams could look like as well as what we expect the final of the match scoreline to be.
Match tickets
Real Madrid vs Las Palmas tickets are already on sale. You can buy your Real Madrid tickets from the club’s website ticketing section, their online or offline partner platforms and their other official channels. In the same vein, you can buy your Las Palmas tickets from Las Palmas’ website ticketing section, partner platforms (online or offline), and their official channels.
Ticketing for football matches in Europe is done by balloting for many reasons including crowd control and profit maximisation, hence the need for interested fans to enter their details early enough to secure a slot in the ballots.
This system is partial to registered fans, especially those who are season ticket holders and are on special registration packages. However we, non-registered fans, tourists interested in football, and non-local fans have an option in ticket resale sites which allow them to connect directly with other fans or organisations who have tickets to spare and are willing to exchange them for cash or other tickets.
The game will be played at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid’s home ground, on 19 January 2025.
Team news
Real Madrid will finally have David Alaba back for the season in January and so we expect him to be on the bench for this match. Las Palmas, on the other hand, have no serious injury concerns for the game. Both teams are working on their winter transfer window strategy but we do not expect any debuts for the match.
Line-ups
So far, Martínez has played better football than Carrión by utilising the same players in a different system. The formation has changed and McBurnie has lost prominence because Martínez favours Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee Fábio Silva, who has repaid the faith being shown in him. For this reason, we expect the 22-year-old Portuguese striker to start against Real Madrid.
The hosts, on the other hand, have now deployed Mbappé more on the left side of attack to accommodate his attacking abilities and get him back to his best. It is paying off little by little, but we believe that the Las Palmas game at home is another opportunity to get him on the left to fast-track his adaptation to the squad.
Here are our predictions for both teams’ starting XIs.
Real Madrid: Courtois; Garcia, Rüdiger, Asensio, Vazquez; Bellingham, Ceballos, Camavinga, Güler; Mbappé, Vinícius.
Las Palmas: Cillessen; Marmol, McKenna, Suarez, Viti; Campaña, Rodriguez; Moleiro, Muñoz, Sandro; Silva.
Prediction
As stated earlier, Las Palmas have never done the double against either or both of the big two of the Spanish LaLiga. Still, despite facing the most vulnerable Real Madrid side in years, the chances that they can get points at the Bernabeu are slim. For this reason, we expect Madrid to come out on top, and cleanly too.
Real Madrid 2 – 0 Las Palmas.