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Real Madrid - Celta Vigo Preview: Blancos face must-win Copa del Rey clash
Jose Mourinho's side must turn around a 2-1 first-leg deficit if they are to overcome their Galician visitors and reach the quarter-finals of the cup competition
By Karthick Arvinth
Essien, Varane, Ramos, Arbeloa
Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo
Mallo, Cabral, Tunez, Lago
Fernandez, Bermejo, Krohn-Dehli
Real Madrid have no new fitness concerns ahead of Wednesday's Copa del Rey encounter against Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Defenders Pepe, Marcelo and Fabio Coentrao all remain sidelined, but Sergio Ramos is available after missing the Liga victory over Real Sociedad through suspension.
Boss Jose Mourinho could again overlook Iker Casillas in favour of Antonio Adan, whose red card during the weekend does not rule him out of this clash.
Celta winger Augusto Fernandez returns after serving a one-match ban and missing last weekend's clash against Real Valladolid.
Defender Samuel misses out with a knee injury, but otherwise coach Paco Herrera has a full squad at his disposal.
|DID YOU KNOW?|
- Real Madrid ended a three-match winless run with a 4-3 home victory over Real Sociedad on Sunday.
- Los Blancos are on a 31-match unbeaten run at the Santiago Bernabeu in all competitions.
- Cristiano Ronaldo's double against Sociedad took him to eighth in the all-time top scorers list for Real Madrid with 171 goals, level with Emilio Butragueno.
- Celta Vigo have won just four of their last 14 matches in all competitions (W4, D3, L7).
- The Galicians have lost all but one of their away matches this season, with the sole exception being a 1-0 Liga win at Zaragoza.
- However, Celta have beaten Madrid on two of their last three Liga visits to the Bernabeu.
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Top 3 Predictions
Real Madrid CF 3-1 Celta
- 13.83 %
Real Madrid CF 3-0 Celta
- 11.8 %
Real Madrid CF 4-1 Celta
- 11.46 %
|Spain - Primera Division (LIGA)||Mar 10, 2013||Celta 1 - Real Madrid CF 2|
|Spain - Copa del Rey (ESPC)||Jan 9, 2013||Real Madrid CF 4 - Celta 0|
|Spain - Copa del Rey (ESPC)||Dec 12, 2012||Celta 2 - Real Madrid CF 1|
|Spain - Primera Division (LIGA)||Oct 20, 2012||Real Madrid CF 2 - Celta 0|
|Spain - Primera Division (LIGA)||Apr 1, 2007||Celta 1 - Real Madrid CF 2|
|Real Madrid CF|
|May 17, 2013||Real Madrid CF 1 - Atletico Madrid 2||ESPC|
|May 11, 2013||Espanyol 1 - Real Madrid CF 1||LIGA|
|May 8, 2013||Real Madrid CF 6 - Malaga 2||LIGA|
|May 4, 2013||Real Madrid CF 4 - Valladolid 3||LIGA|
|Apr 30, 2013||Real Madrid CF 2 - Borussia Dortmund 0||UCL|
|Returns:||Real Madrid £11.43||Sign up to Paddy Power for £250 in free bets|
|Returns:||Draw £410.00||Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200|
|Returns:||Celta £3010.00||Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25|
|18||Raúl Albiol Tortajada||Defender|
|22||Ángel Di María||Midfielder|
|12||Gustavo Daniel Cabral||Defender|
|5||Andres Tuñez Arceo||Defender|
|-||Santiago Mina Lorenzo||Striker|
The Portugal star endured disappointment as he was pipped to the Ballon d'Or crown by arch-rival Lionel Messi yet again, despite powering Real Madrid to their first Liga title in four years last season. However, the 27-year-old has little time to wallow in his misery, with his crisis-hit team desperately in need of a string of victories to boost morale.
Celta Vigo's top goalscorer netted a double on Sunday to give his relegation-threatened side a crucial victory over Real Valladolid. Aspas will look to take full advantage of a Madrid backline that has leaked 12 goals in its last five outings.
Wednesday's clash is an absolute must-win for Jose Mourinho, as a premature cup exit would threaten to bring the simmering tension between the Madridistas and the Portuguese tactician to breaking point. Madrid will have gained some confidence from their thrilling win over Real Sociedad over the weekend and will go all out to secure a place in the next round.
Live Final scheduled Suspended Cancelled Postponed