Real Madrid will face Leganes in a Copa del Rey quarter-final on Wednesday, with a spot in the semi-finals up for grabs. After a tough 1-0 defeat to Espanyol in their
recent La Liga match, Los Blancos will be looking to bounce back, while Leganes will try to recover from their own loss to Rayo Vallecano.
Real Madrid’s La Liga title hopes took a hit on Saturday, as they fell to Espanyol in a narrow loss. This defeat, their first in the league since December 4, has left them just one point ahead of second-place Atletico Madrid, with a crucial derby match against them coming up. Barcelona is only four points behind, so Real Madrid knows they need to keep pushing if they want to retain their title.
For now, however, they’re putting their league focus on hold for the Copa del Rey. This will be the second time in three seasons that they’ve reached the quarter-finals, after winning their first two rounds in the competition. They started strong with a 5-0 win over Deportivo Minera and then survived a tense 5-2 extra-time victory over Celta Vigo.
Real Madrid are clear favorites to advance, especially after a 3-0 win over Leganes at Butarque earlier this season, with goals from Kylian Mbappe, Federico Valverde, and Jude Bellingham.
Leganes, meanwhile, are in the quarter-finals after a tough run through the earlier rounds. They won in penalties against Estepona in the second round and then pulled off a narrow 2-1 win over Cartagena from the Segunda Division. In the last round, they overcame Almeria 3-2 with a late winner from Diego Garcia.
Their strong cup run has been part of a solid stretch in all competitions, including a surprise 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid and a 0-0 draw at Athletic Bilbao. However, their unbeaten run came to an end with a loss to Rayo Vallecano last Friday, leaving them in 16th place in La Liga.
Despite their recent struggles at home, with four losses in their last five games, Leganes will be hoping for an upset in this cup tie. They’ll take some confidence from their memorable Copa del Rey quarter-final victory over Real Madrid back in 2017-18, when they advanced on away goals after a 2-2 draw across two legs.
INJURIES & SUSPENSIONS
The hosts are still without Enrique Franquesa, who’s out for a long period after tearing his ACL in November.
Midfielder Seydouba Cisse has joined Franquesa in the treatment room after injuring his hamstring during the first half of Friday’s loss to Rayo Vallecano. Renato Tapia came on for Cisse in the 23rd minute of the 1-0 defeat and is now expected to start in Wednesday's cup match.
Despite being sent off against Rayo, Gonzalez will play in defense, as his suspension applies to La Liga matches only.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, are still missing Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao. Eduardo Camavinga will also be absent once again, having missed the last five matches with a hamstring injury.
Carlo Ancelotti will need to make at least one change after Antonio Rudiger suffered a hamstring injury in Saturday's loss to Espanyol, with the defender expected to be out for around three weeks. Ancelotti also confirmed that David Alaba has picked up a muscle problem, and neither Jude Bellingham nor Kylian Mbappe will be fit for Thursday's cup game.
As a result, Ancelotti may give starts to Raul Asencio, Ferland Mendy, Luka Modric, Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz, and Endrick.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS
Leganes possible starting lineup:
Soriano; Altimira, Rosier, Gonzalez, Nastasic, Cruz; Raba, Neyou, Tapia, Rodriguez; De La Fuente
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Lunin; Vazquez, Tchouameni, Asencio, Mendy; Valverde, Modric; Guler, Brahim, Vinicius; Endrick
EXPERT PREDICTIONS
Leganes 1-2 Real Madrid
Real Madrid will know they’re in for a challenge similar to the one they couldn’t overcome in Saturday's league loss to Espanyol, as Leganes are expected to sit back and look for opportunities to counter-attack.
That said, the visitors have already secured a comfortable win at Butarque this season, and we believe their attacking quality will be too much for the home side in the end.
