Preview: Ronaldo’s Blancos face tricky game away to Elche
Cristiano Ronaldo is in fine form. He ranks as the fastest player to hit 150 La Liga goals or more among 18 other Real Madrid legends. The Portuguese has been able to do so in 140 matches only, above Zarra y Mundo (161), Ferenc Puskas (169) and Alfredo di Stefano (178).
With Benzema seriously misfiring of late, Carlo Ancelotti could start the French striker on the bench and go with Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Morata and Jese upfront instead. Meanwhile, expect the best of Angel Di Maria in the absence of injured winger Gareth Bale. The visitors will be looking to get into the game right from the start. They could employ an aggressive strategy as scoring an early goal could be crucial to avoid an upset against Elche.
The Segunda Division champions have not taken maximum points in any of their five matches in La Liga. They lost to Rayo Vallecano on Matchday 1 and went down 2-1 against Osasuna last weekend. However, they are unbeaten at home. That said, they are confident of avoiding defeat against Real Madrid.
“I have complete belief in my team and I'm confident tomorrow we will give 110% to try to win,” Elche coach Fran Escriba told the press on Tuesday.
Los Blancos cannot be deemed ‘invincible’. They struggled to defeat Real Betis at the Bernabeu and dropped points away to Villarreal. According to Escriba who claims to have watched each of Real Madrid’s La Liga encounters this season, the games against Betis and the Yellow Submarine “laid down a marker as to how to take some points off the Spanish giants.”
“You have to keep a tighter rein on some of their players, but we can't afford to take our eyes off the ball. […] If we spend the match camped out in our half, we'll be doomed,” he concluded.
Last night, Barcelona cruised past a comfortable 4-1 win over Real Sociedad while Atletico Madrid defeated Osasuna 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon. Real Madrid, with 13 points, must catch up on the current joint La Liga leaders. Will Los Blancos get what they are looking for away to Elche?
Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV channels, live scores
Watch Elche vs Real Madrid live on Wednesday, September 25, 2013:
In UK at 21:00 BST on: Sky Go, Sky Sports 3/HD
In USA at 16:00 ET on: beIN Sport Play, beIN Sport USA, beIN Sport en Español
If you want live scores or information on where to watch Elche-Madrid today, visit the match page.
