Real Madrid have lost their appeal to the Administrative Court for Sport over their Copa del Rey expulsion.
The Spanish giants were disqualified from this year's tournament after fielding an ineligible player, Denis Cheryshev, from the start in last week's match against Cadiz.
Madrid yesterday lost their first appeal to the Spanish Football Federation and quickly signalled their intentions to challenge the ruling further at the Administrative Court for Sport.
Cheryshev, who opened the scoring in a 3-1 win, was suspended for the match after picking up three yellow cards in the competition for Villarreal last season, and Real said that they should have been notified of the ban.
However, the Ministry of Sports did not agree and upheld the 19-time winners' expulsion, meaning that they will not play in the second leg on Wednesday.
