Preview: Final hurdle of the year for title hunters Real
Cristiano Ronaldo served his second and final match ban in the Copa del Rey in midweek. The Portuguese winger, who opened the scoring with a header in the 2012/13 Spanish Cup final, was latter dismissed in the match. He was therefore suspended for two games and had to miss both legs against Olimpica de Xativa.
In his absence, Real Madrid were able to reach the Last 16 of the 2013/14 Copa del Rey. The team’s focus is now on improving in La Liga where they suffered a slip last weekend due to a 2-2 draw away to Osasuna. Los Blancos were forced to end Matchday 16 five points behind joint leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Ninth-placed Valencia will be keen to further embarrass Carlo Ancelotti and his players.
The atmosphere at the Mestalla Stadium promises to be tense this Sunday. The last meeting between both sides at this venue was marked by Iker Casillas’ unfortunate hand injury. This incident made way for Diego Lopez to land at the Santiago Bernabeu in the 2013 January transfer window. Casillas eventually lost his number 1 status in post under ex-boss Jose Mourinho.
With Ancelotti, the policy is different. The World Cup winning captain makes the starting XI in cup football while Diego Lopez is the man in La Liga. The latter will be under pressure to keep a clean sheet as Real Madrid aim to win their last league game before the Christmas break.
The good news for the Spanish giants is that defender Sergio Ramos is back. The key player was sent off against Osasuna after two bookings but the club won an appeal to rescind the red card.
Valencia are looking to bounce back from a heavy 3-0 loss to Atletico on Matchday 16 while Los Blancos continue to play catch up at the top of La Liga table.
Where to watch to match – live stream, start time, TV channels, live scores
Watch Valencia vs Real Madrid live on Sunday, December 22, 2013:
In Canada at 15:00 ET on:
| Canada | beIN Sport Play Canada |
In UK at 20:00 BST on:
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports 3/HD, NOW TV powered by Sky, Sky Go UK |
In USA at 15:00 ET on:
| United States | beIN Sport Play, beIN Sport en Español |
Watch this game on SuperSport 3 Africa, Al Jazeera Sports and other sports network. Visit the Valencia-Real Madrid match page for live scores and worldwide live listings.
