Leganes vs Real Madrid – Copa del Rey Quarterfinals preview
By Alex McVey
Leganes host Real Madrid for the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. Real Madrid will be hoping to set their season right with a big win.
Real Madrid travel the short distance to Leganes, a satellite city of Madrid, to kick off the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. Coming off the back of another disappointing result, a 1-0 loss to Villarreal, Real will be looking to try to set things right in the cup.
As I’ve written before, the Copa del Rey is now Real Madrid’s most realistic chance of achieving silverware this season. With PSG looming in the Champions League and La Liga already out of realistic reach, the Copa provides Zinedine Zidane with his easiest path to a trophy.
Still, Madrid haven’t had the easiest go of things in the King’s Cup. Madrid have a habit in the Copa this season of putting up a big lead and getting crucial away goals in the first leg, and then collapsing at home.
Using a heavily rotated squad, Los Blancos managed two 2-2 draws in the second leg at home over the past two rounds, first against Fuenlabrada, then against Numanica. Neither of these teams play in the Spanish first division, which means Leganes, currently sitting in 13th in La Liga, will be an even tougher challenge for Real Madrid if they don’t take this seriously.
Fortunately, it looks like the team is rallying their efforts around the Copa. Marca report that Cristiano Ronaldo spoke to the team at Valdebebas and stressed that Madrid should make the cup a priority.
Zidane has tended to roll out a stronger lineup in the first leg in order to get the crucial away goals, and then a weaker lineup in the second leg. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him do something similar here, given the overarching importance of the Copa to Madrid’s season going forward. Karim Benzema is back with the squad and will be available for selection. Sergio Ramos, on the other hand, is still recovering and will not be available for the first leg.
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Real Madrid need to take this competition seriously. A bit of weaker opposition could be just what Real Madrid need to find their scoring boots and get a bit of confidence back after the devastating month they’ve just had. The Copa del Rey is the perfect opportunity to do just that.