Match Preview

Real Madrid get ready for the next round of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday after defeating Unionistas de Salamanca last week.

This time around Real face Segunda División club Real Zaragoza, who haven’t faced Los Blancos since 2013. Zaragoza are currently fourth in the second tier of Spanish football, but are only three points out of second. So, they are a bit of a tougher side than Unionistas.

Real Madrid, like the Unionistas match, are the away team and made the trip to La Romareda. Real will be looking to continue their unbeaten streak across all competitions, which reached 19 matches after defeating Valladolid over the weekend.

Real also took a 3 point league lead in La Liga with their win, so the club will certainly be in high spirits for this Copa match.

Injuries/Suspensions

Real Madrid will be without Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio due to injury. Bale also missed the trip to Valladolid over the weekend. Casemiro and Isco are being rested for this match. Carvajal is available in the squad after serving a suspension in that match as well.

Zaragoza will be without Alberto Zapater, Raphael Dwamena and Javi Ros.

There are no suspensions for Wednesday’s match.

Potential XIs

Real Zaragoza

Álvarez; Vigaray, Atienza, Grippo, Clemente; Soro, Guti, Blanco, Kagawa, Puado; Linares

Real Madrid

Areola; Carvajal, Varane, Nacho, Mendy; James, Valverde, Kroos; Rodrygo, Vinicius, Jovic

This would be a good match for James to get a start in since he really hasn’t through his dealings with injuries. Valverde did not start on Sunday, but he’ll likely slot in for Casemiro.

It would be good for Jovic to get in another start as well since he hasn’t really with Benzema returning from injury. Rodrygo and Vinicius may also see starts as well.

Prediction

Real Zaragoza—Real Madrid 1-3

This should be an interesting match since Zaragoza will likely be playing hard to eliminate a Primera División club and move on to the next round of the Copa del Rey.

Segunda División B side Cultural Leonesa eliminated Atlético last week and Segunda División club Tenerife took Bilbao to penalties, so there’s already been some precedent set for second and third tier teams giving the La Liga sides tough competition. And Zaragoza have proven this season that they are a good team and could very well end up with a La Liga promotion.

Real will surely want to keep their unbeaten strike alive and must do so if they hope to advance to the next stage of this cup tournament. El Derbi is this Saturday, so Zidane may be resting several starters in anticipation of that. So that means whoever starts must work extra hard to defeat Zaragoza on the road.

This should be a fun match because Real have to deal with a strong second tier side away that they also haven’t faced in about seven seasons. Hopefully, they can keep the unbeaten streak going and move even farther in the Copa del Rey.