REAL MADRID - EIBAR
Casilla set for first Real run-out in four months
The academy graduate, who has not featured for the first team since December, is in line for his maiden appearance under Zinedine Zidane.
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has opted to leave number-one keeper Keylor Navas out of the squad for Saturday's LaLiga clash with Eibar (16:00 CEST) - meaning that Kiko Casilla is in line for his first appearance in goal since the Frenchman took over in January.
Casilla has not featured for Real for four months, last playing in their 8-0 Champions League thrashing of Malmö at the beginning of December. And his most recent league outing came in Los Blancos' 3-2 defeat at Sevilla - way back in early November.
Since his summer return to the Bernabéu from Espanyol - where he had been a fixture between the sticks - the 29-year-old has found his opportunities restricted by the form of Costa Rican custodian Navas.
Besides the Malmö and Sevilla matches, Casilla's limited first-team involvement has brought run-outs in a 3-1 LaLiga victory over Las Palmas - his debut for the capital outfit - and a 4-3 away triumph at Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League group stage.
And Casilla also started the ill-fated Copa del Rey clash with Cádiz in December, seeing Real's 3-1 win in the last-32 first-leg encounter chalked off as Los Merengues were expelled from the tournament for fielding an ineligible player.
Indeed, Madrid's premature Copa elimination is partly to blame for Casilla's lack of game time, because he had been in contention to take on the side's goalkeeping duties in Spain's domestic cup competition this year.