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Real Madrid first-team stars to be rested against Cacereño

Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and Vinícius Júnior are among the players who won’t travel to Cáceres, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed.

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Vinicius gives a talk to the players before training with the public in Valdebebas.
JESUS ALVAREZ ORIHUELADiarioAS

Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that he will rotate his Real Madrid roster in Tuesday’s Copa del Rey tie against Cacereño. Before Los Blancos had published the list of players who would make the trip to Extremadura, the Italian revealed in his pre-match press conference that six men would be staying behind to train – Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Vinícius Júnior, Toni Kroos, David Alaba and Ferland Mendy – while Thibaut Courtois and Dani Carvajal would continue to work on their fitness having trained away from the group in their first two sessions of the year after the World Cup break.

Read more: Cacereño vs Real Madrid: times, how to watch on TV, stream online, Copa del Rey 2022

The former Milan boss also disclosed the identity of four players from the Real Madrid Castilla - the reserve team - squad who have been called up for the cup-tie: Sergio Arribas, Nico Paz, Marvel and Álvaro Rodríguez, who are joined by goalkeepers Luis López and Lucas Cañizares, who have both been part of the first team this season. Of those six, only the two goalkeepers and Arribas, the only one of the other four who has already featured in the first team, took part in an open training session that Madrid held at Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano in front of more than 5,000 spectators.

Ancelotti has only named a 20-man roster for the game despite the fact that Copa del Rey rules allow 22 players to be selected (one less than in LaLiga). There must be a minimum of seven first-team players on the field at any one time, so, provided there are no sending-offs, only four reserve team players can feature at once.

What is Real Madrid’s probable starting line-up against Cacereño?

In a full-scale practice match during the session, the Italian also gave some hints as to his likely starting line-up for the clash in Cáceres. The probable eleven will be:

  • Andriy Lunin; Jesús Vázquez, Eder Militao, Nacho, Álvaro Odriozola; Dani Ceballos, Aurélien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga; Marco Asensio, Rodrygo, Eden Hazard.

The players who won’t travel were on the opposing team, which suggests that the others are set to start on the bench:

  • Luis López; Jesús Vallejo, Antonio Rüdiger, Alaba, Mendy; Fede Valverde, Kroos, Modric; Arribas, Benzema, Vinícius.

Vallejo and Odriozola swapped teams midway through the game.

Real Madrid roster to take on Cacereño in the Copa del Rey

Goalkeepers: Lunin, López, Cañizares.

Defenders: Militao, Vallejo, Nacho, Odriozola, Vázquez, Rüdiger, Marvel.

Midfielders: Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni, Ceballos, Arribas, Paz.

Forwards: Hazard, Asensio, Rodrygo, Rodríguez.