Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale. (Photo : Getty Images)
Lowly club Valencia CF (6-11-5, 23 points) is set to host current league leaders Real Madrid CF (16-1-4, 52 points) at their home field of Mestalla Stadium on Wednesday, Feb. 22 as round 24 of the 2016-2017 La Liga season commences.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 12:45 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
Valencia has continued to struggle in their Spanish top flight campaign this season with three winless performances in their last four outings. The team is currently settled in the 15th spot of the league table, seven points above the bottom three relegation zone.
In their most recent La Liga fixture last Sunday, Los Che was able to halt a three-game winless slide by pulling off a 2-0 upset victory over contending squad Athletic Bilbao also at the Mestalla Stadium, as per Daily Mail Online.
Portuguese winger Nani netted the opening goal for head coach Voro Gonzalez's side in the 13th minute of the match with a left-footed shot from the center of the box off a pass by Fabian Orellana with a through ball.
Valencia then doubled their lead one minute into the first half injury time with another left-footer, this time by Italian striker Simone Zaza with the assist coming from Munir El-Haddadi.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid is also coming off a 2-0 win over middling squad Espanyol at their home ground of Santiago Bernabéu Stadium last Saturday, the Mirror reported.
Spain international Alvaro Morata started as the center-forward in head coach Zinedine Zidane's 4-3-3 formation and scored the first goal of the contest in the 33rd minute via a header from a cross by Isco.
Welsh winger Gareth Bale, who is returning from an ankle injury after 88 days of being sidelined, substituted for Morata in the 71st minute and doubled Los Blancos' lead in the 83rd with a stunning strike with the assist again coming from Isco.
With the win, Real remained on top of the league standings and is still one point ahead of the second-running team and defending champions FC Barcelona.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 3-0 rout by Real Madrid.
Valencia starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Alves; Montoya, Garay, Mangala, Siqueira; Orellana, Perez, Parejo; Munir, Zaza, Nani
Real Madrid starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Casilla; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Nacho; Isco, Kroos, Kovacic; Lucas, Morata, Ronaldo
