Real Madrid's woes in La Liga in recent months continued when they travelled away to Girona earlier this week as they lost 4-2 with Taty Castellanos scoring all four goals to sum up the defending champions' domestic season.
However, they return to the Santiago Bernabéu tonight as they welcome Almería. The visitors defeated Getafe in mid-week to climb to 15th spot in the table, three ahead of 18th-placed Valencia. Rubi's side will need another positive result in order to keep their hopes of survival alive.
On the contrary, Carlo Ancelotti's side have lost three of their last six league fixtures, with those losses coming against league leaders Barcelona, Villarreal, and more recently against Girona. Those losses have all but handed the La Liga trophy back to their Catalan rivals Barca, who have been dodgy themselves in recent weeks.
Madrid face a very tight schedule in the coming weeks, which includes the Copa del Rey final against Osasuna as well as their UEFA Champions League semi-final games against Manchester City. A win will be important for them to avoid getting demoralised ahead of season-defining fixtures.
Real Madrid vs Almería confirmed lineups
Real Madrid XI (4-3-3): Courtois; Lucas. V, Militão, Rüdiger, Camavinga; Ceballos, Tchouaméni, Kroos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vini. Jr.
Almería XI (4-5-1): F. Martínez; H. Mendes, Ely, Chumi, Akieme; A. Puigmal Martínez, Portillo, De la Hoz, S. Costa, Ramazani; Lázaro
Real Madrid vs Almería LIVE updates
Real Madrid's upcoming fixtures
Real Madrid face a tricky away fixture in La Liga when they take on Real Sociedad at the Anoeta on Tuesday, May 2.
They will then hope to win their first Copa del Rey trophy since 2014 when they take on Osasuna next Saturday, May 6.