Fuenlabrada vs Real Madrid – Copa Del Rey match preview

Real Madrid travel to Fuenlabrada, a suburb of Madrid located to the southwest of the city, for the first leg of their Copa del Rey round of 32 fixture. Here’s everything you need to know about that match.

Real Madrid are back in action in the Copa del Rey. Madrid exited unceremoniously from the Copa last season in the quarter-finals after a series of disappointing outings against Celta Vigo. That allowed Barcelona to go on to claim the Copa, a consolation prize for an otherwise disappointing season for the Blaugrana.

Now, Zidane faces a new challenge: winning the only trophy he has yet to win as a Real Madrid manager. It’s crazy to think about the fact that Zidane has won nearly every trophy possible to win in what feels like a short two years at Real Madrid.

If Zidane felt under pressure to perform well in this tournament, he sure didn’t show it by his squad selection to face off against Fuenlabrada. As Guardian football journalist (and huge Fuenlabrada fan) Sid Lowe points out, nearly all of Real Madrid’s big stars were left out of the squad for the midweek fixture:

However, Zidane should still have more than enough firepower to deal with the challenge Fuenlabrada poses. CF Fuenlabrada plays in Group 1 of the Segunda B, the third level of Spanish football. Getting the chance to play against Real Madrid in their home stadium, named after Fernando Torres, is a massive opportunity for the tiny team of a town of less than 200,000 to display their club to the world.

Fuenlabrada is a great Segunda B team, but Real Madrid should still be able to deal with them comfortably, even while Zidane engages in his heavy rotation scheme.

Zidane’s rotations means we can expect to see some faces from the fringes of the squad today. A number of the players on the bench are from the Castilla squad. We may also get to see Jesus Vallejo make his competitive debut for Real Madrid after suffering from an injury that kept him out of play for most of this season.

This will be a big opportunity for players like Llorente, Vallejo, and Ceballos to prove that they have what it takes to participate regularly in the first team. A strong performance here could signal to Zidane that he has nothing to worry about when it comes to making the wholesale changes from match to match that he is known for.

Next: Will Real Madrid give their full effort in the Copa del Rey?

Stay tuned to The Real Champs for post-match coverage of the Copa del Rey action.