Match Preview

Real will come home Wednesday night to the Bernabeu up 1-0 in the aggregate over Leganes. The second leg is a chance for Real to put this stage of the Copa Del Rey to rest and move on. Los Blancos are coming off a 7-1 domination over Deportivo this past weekend in La Liga. Coming off such a huge victory should give Real the confidence they need in order to continue winning.

Injuries

It was confirmed by head coach Zinedine Zidane that Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos is back in training with the squad, but it is still unlikely that he will start or even make an appearance in this match. It’s best for Ramos to continue training and get back to full health and not feature against Leganes.

Karim Benzema is back from injury, as seen against Deportivo when he came off the bench as a substitute. While he’ll be fit for this match, Mayoral might still be given the nod after impressing against Deportivo.

Marcos Llorente and Jesus Vallejo are both still out with injury. Dani Ceballos will join them on the injury list after sustaining an injury in training.

Potential XIs

Real Madrid

Casilla; Carvajal, Nacho, Varane, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Ronaldo, Mayoral

Zidane made the switch on Sunday to the 4-3-3 formation, which appears to have worked since Real beat Deportivo 7-1. It’s highly likely they will roll with this formation again here in the second leg. This means that Isco may be forced to sit on the bench, unless Zidane decides to rest either Modric or Casemiro. As far as substitutions go, based on the listed potential XI, expect to see Isco, Asensio, and perhaps Benzema to come off the bench (hopefully to a more favourable reception this time).

Leganes

Champagne; Siovas, Tito, Munoz, Rico; Gumbaeo, Perez, El Zhar, Eraso; Naranjo, Beauvue

Prediction

Real Madrid 2 - 0 Leganés

It’s certainly possible Real puts up a dominant performance against Leganes as they did against Deportivo on Sunday with this new formation. For Real, it’s highly important that they expand on their 1-0 lead in the aggregate as to break Leganes’ confidence. I don’t expect Los Blancos to try and park the bus in hopes of defending a 1-0 lead for 90 minutes. Leganes is going to come out looking for a tying goal any which way they can, so Real have to counterattack when they can. Most importantly, they need to finish their chances as they did against Depor on Sunday.

The hope also is for Ronaldo to continue scoring after contributing with two goals in the latter portions of Sunday’s La Liga match. Bale also needs to continue his great form, he’s been outstanding since coming back from injury. And, of course, goals from unexpected players are always welcome, as we saw with Nacho’s brace.

Most importantly, certainly more than who scores, and how many goals are scored, Real need to get the win and move on to the next stage of the Copa Del Rey; because this may be their only good chance to add some hardware to the trophy case the rest of the season.

HOW TO WATCH, STREAM COPA DEL REY

Date: 01/24/2018

Time: 21:30 CET, 03:30pm EST, 12:30 pm Pacific.

Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain.

Available TV: BeIN Sports (USA), BeIN La Liga (Spain).

Available Streaming: BeIN Sports (USA), Fubo.TV (EVERY Real Madrid game with a high-quality and legal stream, click here to sign up and benefit from a summer discount for new members and Managing Madrid readers).