Copa Del Rey will crown a new champion in this year’s final, which will take place on Saturday evening at the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville.
Los Blancos, for one, will put their La Liga woes to one side this Saturday night. They might have dropped down to third in Spain's top flight, and look set to lose their crown to bitter rivals Barcelona, but they will look to make amends by adding their third trophy of the season to their cabinet after the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup triumphs.
Real Madrid's march to the Copa Del Rey final has been quite impressive as they beat the likes of Villarreal, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona to seal their place in Saturday’s final. They were particularly exceptional in the semi-final second leg against Barcelona as they blew away their arch-rivals 4-0 to secure a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Los Blancos have the pedigree, experience and the know how of winning cup finals and are overwhelming favourites to win the final. However, Osasuna are no pushovers themselves, and won’t be there just to make up the numbers.
Osasuna have had a solid season, and they still have a chance to qualify for Europe after winning 12 and drawing eight of their 33 La Liga games. Los Rojillos have also reached the final of the Copa del Rey, aiming to win the trophy for the first time.
The Basque outfit last made it to the final in 2004/05, where they lost to current holders Real Betis. Jagoba Arrasate’s men have managed to claw their way back to the Copa del Rey showpiece with a string of spirited performances, causing several upsets along the way, epitomised by their hard-fought 2-1 aggregate win over Athletic Bilbao in the semis.
Cup finals are notoriously tight affairs, and with Real Madrid in poor form recently, having lost two of their past three league games, and with next-midweek's Champions League game againt Manchester City on their minds, Osasuna will fancy their chances of making a real game out of this one.
This is going to be another version of David vs Goliath, with Osasuna seeing it as a golden chance to win the club's first piece of major silverware in Copa del Rey title, and hoping to pull off a historic upset to win.
Real Madrid vs Osasuna confirmed lineups
Real Madrid XI (4-3-3): Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Camavinga; Valverde, Tchouameni, Kroos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius
Osasuna XI (4-3-3): Herrera; Pena, Aridane, D. Garcia, Cruz; Moncayola, Torro, Gomez; Oroz, Budimir, Ezzalzouli
Real Madrid vs Osasuna LIVE updates
Real Madrid upcoming games
Carlo Ancelotti’s men will hope to lift the Copa del Rey trophy here, which will feel like a consolation for not being able to defend their league crown. However, they won't get much time to celebrate with the first-leg of Champions League semi-final against rampant Manchester City just around the corner.
They will have a dead-rubber La Liga fixture against Getafe sandwiched between the double-header against Pep Guardiola's troops, first at home this Tuesday night, and then away to Etihad next Wednesday.
