Levante will be looking to take advantage of the trouble surrounding Real Madrid when La Liga's basement team welcome Zinedine Zidane's troops to Valencia on Wednesday night.
Defeat at home to Atletico Madrid at the weekend has left Real Madrid's already-slim title hopes in tatters, but Levante have problems of their own as they prop up the table with just 12 games left.
Levante
© Getty Images
Levante's hopes of playing La Liga football for a seventh successive season are in doubt, with the Frogs currently bottom of the table on 20 points. It has been a difficult campaign for the Valencia-based team, but they have not been cut adrift from those around them, which has given them hope of pulling clear in the final months.
Six points from an available nine between January 9 and January 25 moved Levante off the bottom, but they have since lost four of their five matches in La Liga, including a 3-0 defeat at Villarreal on Sunday. That result left them rooted to the bottom, but they are just four points behind 17th-placed Las Palmas.
In fact, the battle at the bottom is more fascinating than the one at the top. Just six points separate the bottom six teams and even Espanyol in 14th are not entirely out of the equation as the season enters March. Levante have won four of their 13 home league games this season, but they have only recorded one victory on the road, suffering 11 defeats in the process.
Rubi's side can take heart from their performance against Barcelona last month, however, when they put on an impressive display before ultimately losing 2-0. Goals have been a real problem this season though, with 24 in 26 matches making them the lowest scorers in the division entering week 26.
Since returning to La Liga in 2010, Levante's spot in the top flight has not really been under threat. Indeed, they even managed a sixth-place finish in the 2011-12 season. They have actually not finished lower than 14th since the 2010-11 campaign, but there is no question that they would take 17th and above this time around.
Recent form: WLLLWL
Real Madrid
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When Zidane replaced Rafael Benitez as head coach at the start of 2016, there was a feel-good factor around the Bernabeu. Zidane's tenure could not have got off to a better start following back-to-back home wins over Deportivo La Coruna and Sporting Gijon - where 10 goals were scored - but the cracks have started to show in recent weeks.
Zidane's first away match in the league ended in a 1-1 draw at Real Betis and Los Blancos only just managed to beat struggling Granada 2-1 on the road at the start of last month. It does appear that Real Madrid will make the quarter-finals of the Champions League after recording a 2-0 win at Roma in the first leg of their last-16 clash on February 17, but two games without a win in the league has all but ended their title challenge.
A 1-1 draw at Malaga on February 21 brought a host of criticism, but it got worse at the weekend when they lost 1-0 at home to Atletico, which was their third straight home defeat against Diego Simeone's side in the league. That result has left Los Blancos in third - four points off second-placed Atletico and 12 behind the leaders Barcelona.
The fact that Barcelona are currently on a 34-game unbeaten run makes it extremely unlikely, if not impossible, for Real Madrid to win La Liga this season and they could actually find themselves seven points behind Atletico by the time they take to the field on Wednesday, with their rivals facing Real Sociedad on Tuesday night.
The defeat to Atletico at the weekend brought controversial comments from Cristiano Ronaldo, who suggested that Real Madrid would be top of La Liga this season 'if his teammates were as good as him'. The Portuguese has since changed his stance, but there is no question that there are problems at the Bernabeu. Indeed, at the weekend, calls for club president Florentino Perez to resign were also in full view.
Real Madrid are the leading scorers (71) in La Liga this season, however, and will still be confident of returning to winning ways and ultimately finishing above Atletico, who have been far from convincing this season despite their impressive record.
It will be interesting to see which Ronaldo turns up on Wednesday, but the attacker just loves playing against Levante - netting 13 goals in his last 12 appearances against the Frogs. Key players will once again be missing for Los Blancos, which places more importance on the Portuguese's overall contribution.
Recent form: DWWWDL
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWDL
Team News
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Levante will be without key defender David Navarro, who picked up a red card against Villarreal, while a knee problem will keep Pedro Lopez on the sidelines.
Jose Luis Morales, who has scored four times in Levante's last four home matches, is expected to start despite a slight muscular problem, while Giuseppe Rossi will once again line up with Deyverson in the final third.
As for Real Madrid, Gareth Bale has returned to training following a troublesome calf injury, but the Welshman is not expected to start on Wednesday. Fellow attacker Karim Benzema, meanwhile, is out with a hamstring problem and could miss up to four weeks of the campaign.
Benzema's absence could mean a first league start for 18-year-old striker Borja Mayoral, who came off the bench against Atletico, but the more experienced pair of Jese Rodriguez and Lucas Vasquez will also be hoping for spots in the XI. Elsewhere, Marcelo is still struggling with a calf problem, which should mean another start for Danilo at left-back.
Levante possible starting lineup:
Marino; Lerma, Feddal, Medjani, Tono; Verdu, Verza, Simao, Morales; Rossi, Deyverson
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Danilo; Kroos, Modric, Isco; James, Ronaldo, Jese
Head To Head
Real Madrid have won each of the last five meetings between the two teams - scoring 16 goals and only conceding twice.
That run of form includes a 3-0 win when the pair met at the Bernabeu earlier this season and a 5-0 victory in the corresponding league match during the 2014-15 season.
Levante have not beaten Real Madrid in the league since the 2011-12 season, when Arouna Kone scored the only goal of the match against Jose Mourinho's team.
We say: Levante 1-3 Real Madrid
While Real Madrid are currently low on confidence and also missing some key players, it is very difficult to back against them on Wednesday night.
Levante play nice football and will fancy their chances of finding the back of the net, but they are bottom for a reason and a wounded Real Madrid should have more than enough to return to winning ways.
Matt Law
