Match Preview

Real Madrid travel to Salamanca for the first time in 21 years on Wednesday when they take on Segunda División B side Unionistas. The match will take place as planned at Las Pistas after there was initial doubt that the match could be played there.

Just forming in 2013, this is absolutely Unionistas biggest match of their short existence. They will try their hardest to get a win over a top LaLiga side in their own stadium, which they fought hard to do.

Real Madrid are resting some of their main squad for this match, which means there will be an opportunity to see others get their chance to put some minutes in with the squad.

Injuries/Suspensions

Real Madrid are still without Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio due to injury. Ramos, Rodrygo, Odriozola, Kroos and Modric have all been left off of Wednesday’s squad for rest. Gareth Bale is back in the squad.

Unionistas have no significant injuries to their squad.

There are no suspensions for either club in this Copa del Rey matchup.

Potential XIs

Unionistas

Fernández; Piojo, Góngora, Zubiril, Gallego; Aguilera, López, Angel, Navas; Andrés, González

Real Madrid

Areola; Carvajal, Militão, Nacho, Mendy; James, Valverde, Isco; Bale, Vinicius, Jovic

Zidane will likely go with a heavy backup squad since several of his starters have been left out of the squad entirely.

James and Bale could both be given a start since they have yet to feature since returning from their injuries. Valverde could also start after missing the Sevilla match due to suspension.

This may be the match where we finally see Brahim Diaz feature since he has been included in the squad as well.

Prediction

Unionistas—Real Madrid 1-4

Even not featuring a full squad, Real Madrid should be able to get the job done handily against a Segunda División B side.

As mentioned before, this is Unionistas’ biggest match of their existence as a club so far. It’s a huge step for them to be playing a top side from the top division of Spanish football. They will be playing their hearts in front of the 4,000 or so faithful that can fit into Las Pistas.

For many Real fans, such as myself, this will be a learning experience as well. I’ve never seen Unionistas play before so it will be interesting to see a brand new team match up against Real Madrid that I don’t really know much about play-wise.

While anything can certainly happen, this should be a match where Real move on to the next stage of the Copa del Rey after all 90 minutes have concluded.