Previews
SAT 14.12.2013
El Sadar will play host to Saturday’s opening matchday 16 fixture in which CA Osasuna takes on Real Madrid. A clash between two teams on opposite ends of the table and with completely different objectives in mind.
One man all eyes will be focused on during the encounter is Javi Gracia, who celebrated his 100th day at the helm of Osasuna on Friday. The home team coach will be without Miguel De las Cuevas, Sisi Nino, who are all out with injuries, as well as the suspended Patxi Puñal.
Gracia showed confidence in his squad ahead of the match against Real Madrid. "We depend on ourselves", he declared in his pre-match press conference. "It is our responsibility to do our work well and make life difficult for an opponent that scores on average five goals a game".
Real Madrid meanwhile has only won once in its last five encounters in El Sadar. Carlo Ancelotti will have to make do without the injured Raphaël Varane, Fábio Coentrão and Sami Khedira. The Italian said "the team’s attitude is very good" and went on to declare that "things are going well for us at the moment but we have to play and get results consistently with this attitude".
© LALIGA - 2013