Alavés Should Not Be Underestimated
At first glance, this might seem like a fairly easy task for Madrid. Alavés sits in 10th place, smack dab in the middle of the La Liga table. On the back of a Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick, Madrid beat Alavés 1-4 at the Mendizorroza stadium back in October. Historically, Real Madrid has dominated Alavés, with a 10-2-1 record in their 13 matches against the club.
Surprisingly, what makes this match especially tricky for Real Madrid that they will be playing at home. Alavés is one of the toughest road teams in La Liga at the moment, beating FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou, and drawing against Atletico Madrid in the Calderon.
Zidane: "Alaves won in Barcelona and drew a tie at the Calderon. It is a complicated opponent and we are prepared. We have had time".
— Real Madrid Info ³⁵ (@RMadridInfo) April 1, 2017
While they are 16th in the league if you count only their home matches, when away that ranking rises up to 7th, according to Statto. They are also the fourth best defensive team when away from home, conceding a stingy 15 goals in the league, and keeping five clean sheets away.
Real Madrid have often seemed laborious in unlocking teams, and Alavés might be looking to frustrate the Royal Whites in their trip to the Bernabéu.