Real Madrid will look to take advantage of the Copa del Rey defeat that has allowed them to rest during the week while La Liga rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid met in a exhausting cup tie.
Los Blancos visit Cordoba hoping to increase their lead at the top of the table, while Barcelona travel to Elche and Atletico host city rivals Rayo Vallecano.
Carlo Ancelotti will still miss Luka Modric and Pepe with injuries. Isco has also been an unexpected loss, as he hasn’t recovered on time from the muscle problems he suffered at Getafe. On the other hand, James Rodriguez will feature despite having been limited in training this week.
Los Merengues have won two straight games in La Liga and they will look to make it three. Cristiano Ronaldo will seek to extend his scoring run –he has netted 28 goals in 17 appearances in the league– against one of the weakest teams of the competition.
Cordoba, however, are having a great run in 2015. Despite sitting during many weeks at the bottom of the table, they have improved under new manager Miroslav Djukic and they are unbeaten in January.
The Serbian coach will miss right-back Eduard Campadabal due to suspension and Luso and Inigo Lopez with injuries. Patrick Ekeng is also a loss as he’s playing the African Cup of Nations with Cameroon. Meanwhile, midfielder Borja Garcia will have to sit in the stands as he’s on loan from Real Madrid and his contract bans him from playing Los Blancos.
Possible line-ups:
Cordoba: Juan Carlos; Deivid, Pantic, Crespo, Edimar; Cartabia, Rossi, Gomez, Bebe; Ghilas, Florin.
Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Bale, Khedira, Kroos, James Rodriguez; Benzema, Ronaldo.
