Real Madrid Schedule - Deportivo Preview: Cuenca Thinks Real Madrid Beatable After Loss to Atletico Madrid
MADRID--Deportivo La Coruña player Isaac Cuenca believes that his club can walk away with a win against Real Madrid entering their Liga BBVA clash at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
"I don't know if there's a good moment to go to the Bernabeu," Cuenca told ESPN about Deportivo's upcoming road game with the Real fans desperate to see their club get a win after a bad beat last week.
Real Madrid got bludgeoned, 0-4, at the hands of its cross-city rival Atletico Madrid, which made the race for the Spanish league championship more interesting, and Cuenca thinks this could be the right time to beat the league leader.
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He said, "It's best to play against them now, because when they are full of confidence they come at you with everything. If they don't do that, there could be nerves."
However, many still believe that Real Madrid can repeat its 8-2 rout against Deportivo last September, but the result this time could be radically different considering their recent history.
While the blowout loss to Atletico could demoralize Real Madrid, Deportivo could be on the right track to revive its glory days during the early 2000's in the near future.
Deportivo only lost once in its last six matches, winning thrice and drawing twice. The 11-point haul in that stretch was enough to pull the club out of the relegation zone and to a shot at making the top ten.
"Depor have changed a lot. Now we are much stronger,'' said a now confident Cuenca.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, looks to win this game as a morale booster entering its UEFA Champions League battle against Schalke, and manager Carlo Ancelotti will continue to bank on Cristiano Ronaldo despite the latter coming under fire recently.
Ronaldo drew flak last week after a poor performance against Atletico in his return from a two-match ban and pictures of his birthday party surfaced. Ancelotti, however, expressed his continuous trust on Ronaldo, who he called a unique player.
The club could also get a boost in manpower as defender Pepe returned to practice on Thursday and might suit up on Saturday. Real Madrid, however, wil still miss the services of Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos, Sami Khedira, James Rodriguez, and Fabio Coentrao.
