Real Madrid, after their 7-1 thrashing of Cultural Leonesa in the first leg of the Cop Del Rey, have the game in their bag as they prepare to host the club for a second leg on Wednesday.
Manager Zinedine Zidane has understandably decided to make a number of changes in the team that faces Cultural Leonesa as they have a massive game against Barcelona on Saturday. They are going to be without their star players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Keylor Navas and Luka Modric among others.
Despite resting some of their key players, they are still going to be a strong team as they have huge depth in their squad. With players like James Rodriguez, Mateo Kovacic, Pepe and Casemiro, they have it in them to make life difficult for Cultural Leonesa.
Their entertaining brand of football is not going to change with this team too, and some players like Martin Odegaard will hope to impress more in the chance he will get on Wednesday. Not only the youngsters, all the players will hope to shine and prove their worth.
Zidane believes they played quality football in the first leg, and wants his changed team to deliver in the second leg. His focus will be to win the match, but Zidane is still aware that Cultural are a good side.
"In the first-leg against Cultural we did a very good job. Now we have to play the second-leg and we have to do well. It is true that we won 7-1 away and it is a very good result, but we have to respect the opponent and the fans who will come to support us and try to play well," Real's official website quoted Zidane as saying.
"I think highly of the team (Cultural). The result was favourable for us. They are a very good team that can make things difficult for you. They are first in their league and are playing well. I have seen a lot of their matches and we will respect them and try to win the match."
Real are always a huge team at home, but Cultural Leonesa will hope to put up an improved performance at the Bernabeu. They are not going to be under any pressure, playing against one of the gaints of world football, as they are not expected to win, which might allow them to play some pressure free football.
They are going to defend deep as they will not enjoy much ball-possession with Real on the front foot most of the times, but they should make sure that they play a quick game on the counter. Though they remain at the top of group one in Segunda Division B, Cultural have to step it up some gears if they want to come any close of challenging the La Liga giants.
Cultural Leonesa vs Real Madrid Copa del Rey match is scheduled for 7 pm local time start (11:30 pm IST, 6 pm GMT, 1 pm ET). Live TV listings and streaming options can be found below.
India: TV: No coverage
UK: TV: No coverage
Spain: Movistar+, BeIN Sports. Live streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
Middle East: TV: BeIN Sports 3 . Live streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
US: BeIN Sports. Live streaming: Bein Sports Connect
Sub Saharan Africa countries: TV: SuperSport. Live Streaming: SuperSport Live Video.
