Real Madrid will be aiming to book their spot in the last-16 stage of the Copa del Rey when they make the trip to Estadio Municipal Angel Celdran on Monday evening to tackle fourth-tier outfit Deportiva Minera.
Los Blancos will enter the contest off the back of a 2-1 victory over Valencia in La Liga, while Minera were last in action on December 21, suffering a 1-0 home defeat to Juventud Torremolinos in the fourth tier.
Match preview
Minera were a fifth-tier outfit last season, but they secured promotion to the Segunda Federacion for the 2024-25 campaign, and a solid season in Group 4 has left them in eighth position, picking up 24 points from 17 matches.
The Red Eagles are without a league victory since the end of November, though, picking up just two points from their four matches, and they will enter the clash off the back of a 1-0 home defeat to Juventud Torremolinos.
Minera's last win came in the Copa del Rey on December 5, claiming a La Liga scalp by beating Alaves on penalties following a 2-2 draw, and they will now be looking to record one of the biggest wins in their history.
Jose Perez's side thumped Tudelano 5-0 in the first round of this season's Copa del Rey before beating Alaves last time out, and it will be fascinating to see how the team perform against the reigning Spanish champions.
Real Madrid returned to action after the winter break against Valencia on Friday night, and it did appear that Carlo Ancelotti's side would suffer a narrow defeat in their opening match of 2025.
Indeed, Los Che led 1-0 entering the latter stages, with Real Madrid, who missed a penalty through Jude Bellingham, being reduced to 10 men courtesy of Vinicius Junior's red card, but Luka Modric levelled the scores in the 85th minute before Bellingham came up with a last-gasp winner for the reigning Spanish champions.
Real Madrid are now top of the La Liga table, but their next four matches could be in the cup competitions, as they will head to Saudi Arabia next week for the Spanish Super Cup, facing Mallorca in the semi-finals of the competition ahead of a potential final against Athletic Bilbao or Barcelona, before potentially being involved in the last-16 stage of the Copa del Rey.
The team will not be back in league action until January 19 at home to Las Palmas, and Ancelotti will have to carefully manage his squad during this stage of the season, but Real Madrid so often come up trumps in the second half of the campaign.
Real Madrid have won the Copa del Rey on 20 occasions, with their last success in the competition coming in 2022-23, but they were knocked out in the last-16 stage of last season's tournament by Atletico Madrid.
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Team News
Omar Perdomo has been a standout performer for Minera this season, scoring five goals and registering two assists in 15 appearances, and the 31-year-old will be in the home side's XI for this Copa del Rey fixture.
Pipo has four goals and four assists this term and is also set to be in the starting side, while there should be a spot through the middle for the experienced Francis Ferron, with Cristhian Britos featuring in a deeper area.
As for Real Madrid, Vinicius is suspended following his red card against Valencia, while Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba remain on the sidelines, but the latter will be back before the end of the month.
Head coach Ancelotti will ring the changes for this clash, with Andriy Lunin, Raul Asencio, Fran Garcia, Brahim Diaz, Arda Guler and Endrick expected to be among the starters, with Los Blancos having more than one eye on their Spanish Super Cup semi-final.
Jesus Vallejo is not in Ancelotti's long-term plans and and has only played 10 minutes of football this season, but there could be a spot in the middle of the back four for the 27-year-old on Monday evening.
Deportiva Minera possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Mas, Monty, Vera, Heredero; Pujante, Petcoff, Britos, Pipo; Perdomo, Ferron
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Lunin; Vazquez, Asencio, Vallejo, Garcia; Ceballos, Tchouameni; Brahim, Modric, Guler; Endrick
We say: Deportiva Minera 0-3 Real Madrid
Minera will be the fresher of the two teams, while Real Madrid head coach Ancelotti will make a number of changes to his strongest side. However, are just cannot see a scenario which does not involve the visitors comfortably progressing to the next round of the competition.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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