World Cup finalists will open the Copa del Rey for Real Madrid.

Tuesday at 21:00 CEST, Real Madrid kicks off their 2019 Copa del Rey season against third-tier team Cacereno.

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Los Blancos are participating in their first match of the season after being given a bye for the previous two rounds because of their participation in the Spanish Supercup. Carlo Ancelotti was the last Real Madrid manager to win the tournament while in charge, but as that was back in 2014, failing to win this time would extend their “drought” to over ten years.

Carlo Ancelotti said that he will be benching a number of well-known players before the game. The next weekend sees Real Madrid play Villarreal.

Sport predicts that Nacho Fernandez and Lucas Vazquez will start, but Cacereno will have to deal with a strong center defense that includes Antonio Rudiger and Eder Mlitao. A double pivot of World Cup runners-up Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga will be in front of them in midfield.

Dani Ceballos, who performed well against Real Valladolid over the weekend, is anticipated to be the creative hub. Eden Hazard will also make an effort to find some rhythm.

Alvaro Odriozola will get his first season minutes, even though he will be playing left back out of position, according to Diario AS, who agrees with much of that starting lineup but believes Nacho will start in central defense ahead of Rudiger. The only senior Madrid player who hasn’t played so far this year is him.