Official: Real Madrid squad list against Villarreal
Real Madrid beat fourth division side CP Cacereno in the Copa del Rey round of 32 last fortnight, but were not lucky in the round of 16 draw. They have been pitted against Villarreal, who beat them 2-1 on 7th January.
The Copa game is essentially a replay of the same, with the clash taking place at the Estadio la Ceramica. Weighing up the difficulty of the fixture, Carlo Ancelotti has called up his best team for the clash.
The Italian gaffer confirmed that Thibaut Courtois was going to start tomorrow despite their inclusion of Andriy Lunin, who has been given the responsibility in cup games generally.
David Alaba is still injured, and will not be travelling with the team to Eastern Spain. The same goes for Aurelien Tchouameni, who was not a part of the Spanish Super Cup either.
Their presence has been replaced by Castilla players in the form of Vinicius Tobias and Mario Martin, respectively.
At 37, Luka Modric needs regular rest to play at his best level. Consequently, he has been dropped from this game, with Ancelotti keeping an eye out at the Athletic Club clash on the weekend.
Eden Hazard and Mariano Diaz have received call-ups, but are not expected to start. We could, however, see one or both of them brought on in the second half.
📋✅ Our squad for the match 🆚 @VillarrealCFen!#CopaDelRey pic.twitter.com/LTBiUx3q35
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) January 18, 2023