Real Madrid are aiming to book their place in the Copa del Rey semi-finals when they face Leganes on Wednesday night.
Madrid head into this cup tie off the back of a mightily frustrating La Liga defeat which allowed Barcelona and Atletico Madrid to close the gap in the title race. Carlo Ancelotti’s side were dominant against Espanyol but succumbed to a stunning 1-0 defeat late on.
Their lead at the summit is just a point ahead of Saturday’s seismic bout with Atleti.
Leganes were cast aside by the league leaders on home soil back in November, but are currently keeping themselves afloat in their bid to stay in La Liga. They’ve won just five of their 22 league outings this term and are two points clear of the drop zone in 16th.
A 3-2 victory at Almeria saw them progress into the last eight of this competition, while Madrid required extra time to down Celta Vigo 5-2.
Here is 90min’s guide to Wednesday’s Copa del Rey quarter-final.
Leganes vs Real Madrid head-to-head record (last five games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Leganes |
Real Madrid |
|---|---|
|
Leganes 0-1 Rayo Vallecano – 01/02/25 |
Espanyol 1-0 Real Madrid – 01/02/25 |
|
Athletic Club 0-0 Leganes – 26/01/25 |
Brest 0-3 Real Madrid – 29/01/25 |
|
Leganes 1-0 Atletico Madrid – 18/01/25 |
Real Valladolid 0-3 Real Madrid – 26/01/25 |
|
Almeria 2-3 Leganes – 15/01/25 |
Real Madrid 5-1 RB Salzburg – 22/01/25 |
|
Espanyol 1-1 Leganes – 11/01/25 |
Real Madrid 4-1 Las Palmas – 19/01/25 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Not televised |
|
United States |
ESPN+, ESPN App |
|
Canada |
Not televised |
Enrique Franquesa is out for the long haul having suffered an ACL injury back in November, but Leganes will have Sergio Gonzalez available despite his dismissal against Rayo Vallecano at the weekend.
Seydouba Cisse is the hosts’ other injury concern after he was forced off in the first half on Saturday. He’ll likely be replaced by Renato Tapia in Wednesday’s XI.
Leganes predicted lineup vs Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Soriano; Altimira, Rosier, Gonzalez, Nastasic, Cruz; Raba, Neyou, Tapia, Rodriguez; De La Fuente.
Madris’s injury woes had just started to ease, but Ancelotti is suddenly short-changed in defence again with Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba both suffering setbacks.
Alaba returned from an ACL tear at the start of 2025 but has picked up a muscle injury and is set for another spell on the sidelines. Rudiger, meanwhile, could be out for three weeks with a hamstring complaint.
Ancelotti will also have one eye on Saturday’s Madrid derby despite Wednesday’s fixture arriving at a late stage in this competition. The Madrid boss has confirmed that both Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe will miss Wednesday’s game with knocks.
Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao are long-term absentees, while Eduardo Camavinga is likely to sit out again.
Real Madrid predicted lineup vs Leganes (4-2-3-1): Lunin; Vazquez, Tchouameni, Asencio, Mendy; Valverde, Modric; Brahim, Guler, Rodrygo; Vinicius.
Madrid must be seething after the weekend’s result and will be keen to bounce back ahead of their biggest domestic encounter of the season.
Ancelotti’s availability issues in defence offer an opportunistic Leganes a sniff, but they must stay in the game as Espanyol were able to on Saturday thanks to a fine performance from Joan Garcia between the sticks.
Their defensive record isn’t awful, but the visitors put them to the sword back in November and we should expect a similar result in Wednesday’s quarter-final.