Zinedine Zidane's league of extraordinary gentlemen play their first football game of the calendar year 2017 against a tough Sevilla side in the Copa del Rey round of 16 on Wednesday, January 4. Cristiano Ronaldo is fit to participate in the match for Real Madrid, but Zidane has preferred to rest the talisman.
Apart from Cristiano, the likes of Gareth Bale, Lucas Vazquez, Mateo Kovacic, Pepe and star defender Sergio Ramos will not take part in the match due to injuries.
But will that give any sort of disadvantage to Real Madrid against the third ranked team in La Liga at the moment. Apparently not, if we go by Real's recent form. Sevilla might have won ten Spanish league games so far, as compared to Real Madrid's 11, but the Los Blancos' undefeated record takes all the glory here.
Nevertheless, nothing is impossible in football.
"I'm happy with the work I'm doing, but there's a lot left to do, and I'm also happy players' work. I've won a lot of things as a player and I always try to win as much as possible. I'm happy with what we have won, I didn't expect it, but we must now keep going," said Zidane in the pre-match presser.
"I have to improve in everything. As a player I thought the same thing. A player and a coach can always improve," he added.
Expected starting XI
Real Madrid: Keylor Navas; Marcelo, Pepe, Varane, Dani Carvajal; Casemiro, Kroos, Modrić, James, Benzema, Morata.
Sevilla: Sergio Rico; Rami, Pareja, Mercado; Sarabia, Nasri, N'Zonzi, Iborra, Vitolo; Vietto, Yedder.
Schedule
Date: January 4
Time: 1:45 am IST (Thursday) [8:15 pm GMT, 3:15 pm EST]
Where to watch live
India: No telecast
UK: No telecast
USA: TV - beIN Sports, fubo TV. Live streaming - beIN Sports Connect
Spain: beIN La Liga. Live streaming - beIN Sports Connect Espana
Live score: Twitter
