The battle of undefeated leaders



Real Madrid maintained their undefeated start to the season on Sunday, while they also climbed to the top of the table with their win over Athletic Club, something that their Wednesday evening Copa del Rey opponents Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa also managed to achieve last weekend.
Having been sitting in second place in Segunda B Group One for the past five weeks, the Leon-based club moved into first place with a comfortable 5-1 victory over Mutilvera.
As a result, their coach Ruben de la Barrera and Los Blancos' boss Zinedine Zidane are the only two coaches in the top three tiers of Spanish football to lead their division without having lost a game this season.
The capital city side have not tasted defeat in any of their games, having played nine LaLiga fixtures, three Champions League matches and the UEFA Super Cup, while their Copa opponents have won eight and drawn two of their 10 Segunda B games, alongside winning all three of their Copa del Rey outings.
Both league leaders will put their invincible records on the line on Wednesday evening, with the match at the Estadio Municipal Reino de Leon kicking off at 21:00 CET.In particular, it was a big moment for Felipe Llamazares, general director of the Segunda Division B outfit, who welcome Real Madrid to Leon on Wednesday night.
"Our players will be on a global stage and it's a great opportunity for them," Llamazares told MARCA in the build-up to the match. "Our goal is winning the league because, honestly, playing Madrid means we've already won the Copa."
In terms of the game's outcome, the club director is realistic in knowing that the Copa del Rey is not known for its upsets.
"It will be a most beautiful game," Llamazares said.
"On a sporting level, we know that Real Madrid are far superior to us. But they won't beat us for attitude, excitement, and enthusiasm.
"It's a feast for the city, players, coaches, physios, everyone. We'll also have a full stadium and that'll be a feast for the club's coffers."
Indeed, La Cultu play in the rather modern Estadio Reino de Leon, which has already hosted Spanish national team games.
"At the end of the day, it's 11 v 11 and we like it because we can compete with them, although the important result is Saturday's [against promotion rivals Racing Santander]," he noted.
"The Real match will gave us a chance to become known, in terms of advertisement and such, and on an emotional level it's amazing that our fans will watch the European champions."The Segunda B minnows host Los Blancos in the Copa del Rey with Marcelo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Karim Benzema also given the night off.
That means a recall to the first-team for young striker Mariano, with Fabio Coeantrao also back in contention after almost seven months out.
Full Madrid squad for Wednesday night:
GK: Casilla, Rubén Yáñez.
DEF: Pepe, Varane, Nacho, Carvajal, Coentrao, Danilo.
MID: Kroos, James, Kovacic, Asensio, Isco.
ATT: Lucas Vázquez, Mariano, Morata.

Comments