MADRID, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid returns to action on Thursday when it entertains Celta Vigo in the fourth round of the Copa del Rey with something to prove.
Sunday's 5-2 thrashing to FC Barcelona in the Spanish Supercup final asked some serious questions about the Madrid side, especially in defense, and also saw coach Carlo Ancelotti come in for criticism as his team was taken apart by Barca, who led 5-1 shortly after halftime before holding on for the last half hour with few problems, despite having a player less on the pitch.
Real Madrid's main problems lie in defense, where the lack of a consistently effective holding midfielder has left Lucas Vazquez exposed at right back and where Aurelien Tchouameni struggled as a stand in central defender against Barca.
Raul Asencio could play in central defense against Celta with Fede Valverde dropping in at right back, although that is another problem for Ancelotti as Valverde and Antonio Rudiger (his best fit central defender) are the two players who have played the most minutes this season.
The good news for Real Madrid is that Celta travels to the capital without injured club captain, Iago Aspas and forward Alfon Gonzalez both out injured, and without that duo, the Celta attack loses a lot of its bite.
Ancelotti may be tempted to rest Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham on Thursday, with Arda Guler (unused in Saudi Arabia) and Brahim Diaz given their chance to start.
There are two more Copa del Rey games to be played on Thursday, with cup holders, Athletic Club Bilbao at home to Osasuna and Real Sociedad entertaining Rayo Vallecano.
Athletic has had a week's rest after its Supercup exit to Barca and the only injury doubt for coach Ernesto Valverde is top-scorer Oihan Sancet with an ankle problem.
Athletic won 2-1 away to Osasuna just before Christmas, but the visitors rested several key players, such as Ante Budimir and Aimar Oroz for the weekend defeat away to Atletico Madrid and will remember how it knocked Athletic out in the 2023 semi-final.
Real Sociedad won its league game at home to Villarreal 1-0 on Monday and coach Imanol Alguacil will have to rotate his starting 11, while Rayo is in a rich vein of form itself after beating Celta last Friday and travels to San Sebastian after seven games unbeaten in all competitions. ■
