Real Madrid make their debut in the Copa del Rey against Cacereño in the round of 32 at the Príncipe Felipe Stadium (9pm CET). The tie will be played over one leg, so Ancelotti’s men only need a win to be in the draw for the last 16. With this match, the Whites embark on a demanding opening month to 2023, in which they will play LaLiga, the Spanish Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. Madridistas, who will meet the Extremadura side for the first time in an official match, got off to the best possible start in their return to competition after the World Cup in Qatar having beaten Valladolid on match-day 15 of La Liga thanks to a brace from Benzema.
The Boss Carlo Ancelotti named his squad for the Copa del Rey last-32 tie against Cacereño, at the Príncipe Felipe stadium, before the departure.
REAL MADRID SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Lunin, Luis López and Cañizares.
Defenders: E. Militão, Vallejo, Nacho, Odriozola, Lucas V., Rüdiger and Marvel.
Midfielders: Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni, D. Ceballos, Arribas and Nico Paz.
Forwards: Hazard, Asensio, Rodrygo and Álvaro.
Ancelotti stated that the cup is quite important to the team even why Real has not got to the end of this competition since 9 years ago (2014, when Ancelotti was actually a Madrid coach). The coach shared his thoughts on the match expressing himself as follows: "We have to be smart in this game. It can become difficult if you believe that you can win games with quality alone. There also has to be commitment and fight. The cup is a major competition and we have to give our all: quality, commitment and fight".
"Courtois and Carvajal have had minor niggles. They will be rested tomorrow and should be available for Villarreal. Benzema, Vini Jr, Kroos, Alaba and Mendy won't be getting any minutes either. We'll be looking to put in the best possible performance. We will also take the academy players Arribas, Nico Paz, Marvel and Álvaro Rodríguez tomorrow. They're playing very well with Castilla, where Raúl is doing a very good job. The youngsters are making very fast progress and not just these four, but also the likes of Mario Martín, Rafa Marín... The youth academy is producing players for the future of Real Madrid", he added.
The Copa del Rey: "I've won it once and that shows you that it's an important competition for us. It's not the most important, that's the Champions League. Wearing the badge on this jersey means you have to respect every competition and win as many as you can. We have to look to win it".
The Real Madrid travelling party left Real Madrid City by bus on their way to the town in Extremadura and arrived in Cáceres on Tuesday noon. Upon arrival, the team made its way to the Barceló Cáceres V Centenario hotel, where they will be based ahead of the game. "I really like travelling by bus and I'm really happy to travel this way. I don't know Spain as well as Italy and it's a chance to enjoy this marvellous country", Ancelotti said.
Training in front of the fans: "It was a good atmosphere. We can only do it once a year for security reasons, but it's very nice and we're excited to do so. It's always early in the New Year and the fans are always near us. It's an important part of what we do. It's a special time for us and for the fans".
The difficult fixture list: "It's tough, but we've got the resources necessary to cope with it: all the data, the coaching staff with a lot of people, physios, doctors... I believe we can manage it very well, taking into account that the matches also help to improve the players' fitness".
Vini Jr. and racism: "I don't need to talk to him about it. It's a pretty straightforward subject. There shouldn't be racism or xenophobia. If we think otherwise, we are wrong. It's a problem within society and there should be zero tolerance for it. It isn't the league's problem, but rather a general and cultural problem within a society that lacks the education it should have. We need to focus on something bigger than Vini Jr., the league or sanctions".
The break before Christmas: "This stoppage wasn't like the one in 2014. I don't know what will happen in 2023, I'm not a magician, hopefully we'll do well and it'll be like 2022. It wouldn't be bad. I don't want to think that what we did last year is unrepeatable. It can be repeated and, why not, improved. We have fewer doubts about this squad than we had at this stage in 2022".
Kroos' contract renewal: "He's quite sure about it and will be very clear in the next month. It's impossible as a football fan to imagine that he's going to retire. He has said that he wants to end his career at Real Madrid and so I think he'll carry on".
Ceballos: "I'm not involved in contract renewals. He's doing well and the contract situation is something personal, something that the player has to address together with the club".
Players coming to the end of their contract: "We don't have any problems with this. The players are concentrating on what they're doing. When a player comes to the end of their contract it's not as worrying as it was years ago. If they want to stay they'll stay and if they want to leave they'll go. Clubs aren't as worried about it either”.
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