It has been confirmed today, on Tuesday, that a Real Madrid first-team midfielder is in the FIFA Team of the Year for 2025.

Real Madrid take on CF Talavera in their first Copa del Rey game in the Round of 32 on Wednesday night, in what should be a straightforward encounter for the team.As such, rotations are expected to

Deportivo Alavés faces Real Madrid at the Estadio Mendizorrotza in Vitoria-Gasteiz on Sunday, Dec. 14. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. CET local time, 3 p.m. ET or 12 p.m. PT in the US and Canada, 8 p.m. GMT in the UK and a 7 a.m. AEDT kickoff in Australia on Monday morning.

The 15-time Champions League winners will be eager to erase those painful memories with a strong start to their first Copa del Rey campaign under Xabi Alonso. The team received a favorable round of 32 draw, matching up with Talavera, who sit just one point off the bottom of their section of the Primera Federación.

According to an anecdote on the SZ podcast Un num zum Sport (as reported by Bild) Real Madrid almost signed Bayern Munich wonderkid Lennart Karl back in 2018, almost four years before he moved to the Bavarian capital.

The 16th match week of the La Liga season sees Real Madrid traveling away from home to take on Deportivo Alaves at the Estadio de Mendizorroza. Real Madrid and Deportivo Alaves are 18 points apart in the La Liga table.

Kylian Mbappé has scored in his return from injury. His goal helped Real Madrid beat host Alaves 2-1 in the Spanish league to relieve some of the pressure on coach Xabi Alonso.

The Frenchman needs to find the back of the net four more times to score 60 goals for Real Madrid in 2025.