Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo. (Photo : Getty Images)
Current league leaders Real Madrid CF (12-1-4, 40 points) will look to redeem themselves from their poor performance in the previous round as they host middling side Malaga CF (5-7-6, 21 points) at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Jan. 21, Saturday in a 2016-2017 La Liga season match.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 10:15 a.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
Real Madrid suffered their first loss of the season in their 17th fixture with a disappointing 1-2 loss to second-running club Sevilla on the road at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium last Sunday, as per Sports Mole.
It was a tough match for head coach Zinedine Zidane's squad as they were missing goalscorers Gareth Bale and Alvaro Morata, who are both nursing separate injuries. Still, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema are available in an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation up front.
Ronaldo was able to break the deadlock with a penalty kick in the 67th minute following a goalless first half, but an own goal by Los Blancos captain Sergio Ramos in the 85th minute leveled the count to 1-1.
The Sevillistas then took the lead one minute into stoppage time with a 25-yeard strike by Montenegrin forward Stevan Jovetic to hand Real their only loss of the term so far.
Despite the loss, the capital city club remained in the top spot of the Spanish top flight table, but their lead over Sevilla is now down to one point in the standings.
Meanwhile, Malaga was blanked by contending squad Real Sociedad, 0-2, at their own home ground of La Rosaleda Stadium on Monday, SkySports reported.
Head coach Marcelo Romero's side was unable to respond even with a single goal throughout the contest as they evidently had problems in their attacks.
Defender Inigo Martinez and forward Juanmi provided the goals for the visitors in the 50th and 62nd minutes.
It was the third straight loss for Malaga and their fifth consecutive winless performance as Los Boquerones dropped to 13th place in the overall standings.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 3-0 bounce back victory for Real Madrid.
Real Madrid starting lineup (3-5-2 formation): Navas; Nacho, Ramos, Varane; Marcelo, Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Carvajal; Ronaldo, Benzema
Malaga starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Kameni; Juan Carlos, Villanueva, Rosales, Munoz; Castro, Duda; Camacho, Santos, Fornals; Sandro
