MADRID, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane will rest key players Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric for the return leg of his side's King's Cup tie away against Sevilla on Thursday night.
The game is the first of two meetings between the two sides in Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in just four days, with Sunday's Liga Santander a vital match for the two teams, who are first and second in the table with four points between them.
Madrid have a 3-0 lead from the first leg in the King's Cup and are clear favorites to go through and with Sunday's crunch game on the horizon it remains to be seen how much energy both sides are willing to use on Thursday.
"Sevilla are a very strong and we have to play them in league and in the Cup. They are doing things really well and are a really strong team with some quality players. Both of the games are important for us and it is a vital week," said Zidane, who added that Madrid were aiming for a league, cup and Champions League treble.
Thursday sees two more cup ties to be decided as, but both look to have been all-but decided in the first leg a week ago. Eibar entertain Osasuna after winning 3-0 in El Sadar last week, while Celta have a 4-1 home advantage against struggling Valencia.
Tuesday night saw Atletico Madrid book their place in the quarter-finals 4-3 on aggregate to Las Palmas, despite losing the return leg 3-2 at home, while the remaining games between Barcelona and Athletic Club Bilbao, Alaves and Deportivo la Coruna and Villarreal and Real Sociedad are played on Wednesday. Enditem