Real Madrid welcome Girona to the Santiago Bernabeu in the Spanish top flight on Sunday afternoon.

Carlo Ancelotti’s level-headedness is legendary. But the Real Madrid coach came uncharacteristically close to showing a flicker of anger when the prospect of players prioritising their international side to club duties was raised.

„If our players are worried of getting injured before the World Cup?“ he parrotted back. „Listen, if you don’t want to get injured, you can stay at home on the sofa.“

Here’s the XI Ancelotti may deploy that are willing to risk their fitness ahead of the sports-washing showpiece.

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GK: Thibaut Courtois – Never one to hold his tongue, Courtois took it upon himself to chastise his „asleep“ teammates after Madrid’s defeat to RB Leipzig last week.

RB: Dani Carvajal – During his apprenticeship year at Bayer Leverkusen, Carvajal helped Die Werkself to third and was included in BILD’s team of the season, learning „a lot as a person“ as well as a player.

CB: Eder Militao – With Militao now a Spanish citizen, Madrid have three non-EU spots in the squad available, perhaps making way for certain Brazilian teenagers catching the eye.

CB: David Alaba – When the Italian coach took charge of Alaba and co at Bayern Munich, the defender said: „As for Carlo Ancelotti: we don’t need to speak much about him, just look at his CV.“ Six years on, the pair have bolstered their honours list together in Madrid.

LB: Ferland Mendy – Ancelotti was manager of Paris Saint-Germain’s senior side while Mendy was struggling with injury in the club’s academy a decade ago.

CM: Luka Modric – The Croatian maestro grew up in the village of Zaton Obrovacki but his cousins lived just down the road in the fittingly named hamlet, Modrici.

CM: Aurelien Tchouameni – While he was still a teenager, his father publicly compared Tchouameni to Paul Pogba. The pair of midfielders would go on to be international teammates with the senior man describing it as an „honour to play with him“.

CM: Eduardo Camavinga – The 19-year-old is one of just three players to have featured in every Real Madrid match this season.

RW: Marco Asensio – Left on the sidelines for much of the season while his contract situation remains uncertain, Asensio was afforded his first start in midweek in the absence of Fede Valverde.

ST: Rodrygo – Throughout his career, Rodrygo has made little wagers with his father regarding his performance on the pitch. “It’s one of our inside jokes since I was little,“ he explains. „It motivates me.”

LW: Vinicius Junior – According to the Spanish daily AS Vinicius had the third-lowest wage (ahead of Andriy Lunin and Jesus Vallejo) in the entire Real Madrid squad before his new deal last summer.