Match Preview

Real Madrid will travel to the Butarque on Wednesday to close out their series with Leganes in this stage of the Copa Del Rey. Real were able to put up three goals in the aggregate last week, which will help them quite a bit. We all know how poor Real have been on the road, this gives them a much needed crutch going in to the first whistle.

Real were able to win the match over the weekend that separated these two fixtures with Leganes, a match with Betis which ended in Ceballos’ late free kick winner. Leganes also won their weekend match with Huesca.

With the insurmountable number of injuries Real have endured now, it’s almost crucial that they have a lead of this size. Playing away and going in with the three goal lead might prove necessary if Real struggle against Leganes.

Injuries/Suspensions

The injury list remains the same over the weekend with but one other name added to it. The official list is as follows: Asensio, Llorente, Bale, Kroos, Courtois, Vallejo, and now Benzema. Mariano returned to training last Friday, so he may be available against Leganes. Javi Sanchez also joined Mariano in that training session.

Leganes’ injury list is the same as the last fixture with Real, both Szymanowski and Munoz are out.

There are no suspensions for Wednesday’s match.

Potential XIs

Real Madrid

Navas; Odriozola, Nacho, Ramos, Marcelo; Valverde, Casemiro, Ceballos; Vazquez, Vinicius, Mariano

There’s really so many lineups Solari could go with against Leganes. Marcelo didn’t start against Betis so he may get a start. If Javi Sanchez is fully healed he might play instead of Ramos.

With Kroos out, Solari has seemed to favor starting Fede Valverde. Solari could go with Ceballos or even Isco, who didn’t even feature on Sunday. Modric might be given a rest given Real’s lead.

Vazquez will be back from his weekend suspension so he might be given the start back on the right side, or he may give Brahim the start instead given the 3-0 lead. If Mariano is fully back, he will likely start up top for Benzema. If not, he may end up going with Cristo, who did sub on for Benzema after his in-match injury against Betis.

Leganes

Cuellar; Nyom, Bustinza, Omeruo, Siovas, Silva; Arnaiz, Perez, Vesga; Carrillo, En-Nesyri

Prediction

Real Madrid-Leganes 2-1

Real, again, have the luxury of coming into Wednesday’s match with a 3-0 lead in the aggregate. Realistically, this should be a wide enough lead to carry them through to the next round of the Copa Del Rey. But, Leganes being at home and Real’s poor form on the road could always be a factor and make things a bit more difficult.

Even with all the injuries, Real should have enough to be able to capture a win with the 3-0 lead, if not even extend that lead further. Keeping a clean sheet at home ensured that Leganes would not get an away goals advantage, which was Real’s downfall against Leganes in this same tournament last year.

This should see Real Madrid through and it should be an interesting finale to this round, just hopefully not interesting enough to make the fans worry.