After 3 tough away matches vs Eibar, Basel, and Malaga; now comes the time for some relatively easy 3 home matches, the first one of which is tonight’s Copa del Rey match vs UD Cornella. The match will present a golden opportunity for Carlo Ancelotti to rest several key players who have mostly played all of Real Madrid’s matches in the last 3 months (plus matches with their respective national teams). And these players really need this rest, as we clearly saw in the last 20-25 minutes vs Malaga, the team is exhausted in every sense of the word. The midfield, in particular, has shown the most signs of fatigue this far. With Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez visibly tired in the last 2 matches and notably less involved in the match’s general run of play. It looks like Ancelotti will indeed rest his key players as Real Madrid host a Segunda B side that is 4-1 behind on aggregate. Cementing the idea of resting players in this ‘low risk’ match is the fact that Cornella are currently on a 6-match winless run in all competitions and have last won a match more than a month ago. To add salt to the wound, their last away victory came almost 2 months ago, therefor, even with the lest experienced and dynamic players, Real Madrid should face no problems in advancing to the 2nd round and grabbing that 17th consecutive win. Tonight’s match will also feature Jese Rodriguez’s return to the team after 7 and a half months from tearing his ACL in the return leg vs Schalke 04 in 2014/15 Champions League 2nd Round. A return that has been hotly anticipated by Madridistas and a gift to Ancelotti who must deal with players’ fatigue as the team nears the extremely difficult months of January and February,
Real Madrid Pre-Match Stats
- Real Madrid have won 16 matches in a row.
- Real Madrid are just 3 goals away from having scored 70 goals in 14/15.
- Real Madrid average 3.05 goals per match this season.
- Real Madrid are undefeated in their last 10 matches in the Copa.
- Real Madrid are currently on a 9-match winning streak in the Copa.
- They have conceded just 2 goals in their last 10 Copa matches.
- Real Madrid have lost just 3 from their last 82 home matches in all competitions.
- The last Copa match at the Bernabeu saw Real Madrid defeat Atletico 3-0.
- Real Madrid have conceded just 2 goals in their last 6 matches in all comps.
- Cristiano (26) has more goals than the entire UD Cornella team this season (20).
- Real Madrid have a goal difference of +50 compared to Cornella’s -6.
- The last home Copa defeat for Real Madrid was in January of 2012.
- Last season Real Madrid scored 4 goals after 3 matches, this season they have 4 goals after just 1 match.
UD Cornella Pre-match Stats
- Cornella’s last away win was almost 2 months ago (October 5th).
- Cornella are currently on a 6-match winless run in all competitions.
- They have kept just 2 clean sheets in their last 10 matches.
- Cornella scores (on average) less than 1 goal per game in away matches.
- They have more losses than wins in away matches.
- Registered no wins in the last 4 away matches (2d, 2l).
- Cornella conceded 8 goals in their last 2 away matches.
- Last win was over a month ago (26/10/2014).
- They have conceded 9 goals in last 3 matches.
- They have a negative goal difference in all comps (-6).
- Cornella has 2 wins in their last 10 matches.
- Have scored more than 2 goals just 3 times.
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