After an astounding goal-fest in their La Liga game on Saturday, Real Madrid will look to put Elche to the sword when the two sides meet at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Where to Watch Live
The La Liga match is set for an 8 pm local time (11.30 pm IST) start with live coverage on the Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD2 in India. The match can also be watched via live streaming online in India HERE. Catch the action in the UK on Sky Sports 5, with the option to live stream the match online HERE or HERE.
Viewers in the US and Canada can watch the La Liga game on Bein Sports USA and Bein Sports Canada respectively, while the encounter can also be live streamed HERE. Audience in the Middle East and North Africa can catch the action via live streaming HERE, while South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers can do the same HERE.
Real Madrid picked up a thumping 8-2 victory at Deportivo La Coruna in their last La Liga match, with Cristiano Ronaldo grabbing a hat-trick, while Gareth Bale and Javier Hernandez helped himself to a brace.
After a slow start to their La Liga campaign, where they suffered two successive defeats, it was a real statement of intent from Real Madrid, who, on paper, have as formidable an attacking lineup as any club in Europe.
"We have been rising to the challenges we have been faced with," said Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who was under pressure for a positive result in the league after losses to Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid. "We did well in our first two tests and we need another good result to help bolster our confidence.
"The result against Deportivo was very good, but we can't let that fool us because we still have a lot to improve in terms of our play. We had the same problem last year, but this time our attacking play has been much better.
"We need to improve in defence, but I think we are stronger in every aspect at the back compared to this time last year."
While confidence will be sky high after two straight victories by massive margins – they also beat FC Basel 5-1 in the Champions League – Ancelotti will also know the importance of keeping their feet on the ground and warding off complacency.
"When the club, the players and the fans are untied it is much easier to fight for our goals," he added. "Last year, having those three elements united helped us to win and that is why we won. We have reacted well. Against Elche we will be tested again and I want to see consistency in our play and our results."
Elche have picked up four points from four matches so far this season, but are coming off a 2-0 defeat against Eibar on Friday night. However, they will look to their last match in Madrid, when they picked up their only win of the season against Rayo Vallecano.
"We know the difficulty of this match, but we're not going there thinking about a defeat," Elche manager Fran Escriba said.
"Anything can happen in a match. Even if you only have a chance to win once in every 20 games, let us see if this is that time for us."
Ancelotti admitted he will make a few changes to his side against Elche, but the in-form Ronaldo will start again, with the manager not ready to give the Portuguese superstar a rest yet.
"He doesn't need to be rested yet," said the Italian. "He is fine and we need him at his best because he is enjoying a great streak at the moment."
