Real Madrid Versus Atletico Madrid Preview And Copa Del Rey ...

Real Madrid will take on Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey last 16 on Thursday.

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti will, as predicted, make changes to his line up for Thursday's Copa del Rey last 16 clash against crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano.

Los Blancos are fresh off Ancelotti's 11th trophy in the dugout, which put him equal with Zinedine Zidane as their second most successful manager.

To reach the final where they thrashed bitter enemies FC Barcelona 4-1 on Sunday, Madrid had to first get past Diego Simeone's men in the last four.

The two sides put on a thrilling 120-minute affair won 5-3 thanks to extra time strikes from Joselu and Brahim Diaz.

And for his fine form as of late, it appears that Brahim will replace Rodrygo in the starting line up.

For this one, Andriy Lunin keeps his place between the sticks as do all of a back four in Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger, Nacho and Ferland Mendy who kept Barca to just a single goal in the KSU Stadium.

In the center of the park, Aurelien Tchouameni is the pivot again in an almost identical midfield also featuring Fede Valverde plus Jude Bellingham at the tip of the diamond.

The only notable difference is that Luka Modric will replace fellow veteran Toni Kroos, who was booed throughout his displays in Saudi Arabia for comments made about playing in the kingdom but brushed the hostile treatment off to deliver a pair of masterclasses.

Up top, the hat trick hero of El Clasico, Vinicius Jr., partners a Brahim that will want to score against Jan Oblak again as seen last week in order to state his case for more frequent starts.

In his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Ancelotti praised Vinicius who he believes is back to his best after needing a little time to recover from a recent injury and is adding fresh facets to his game.

"It's true that he's scoring goals in quite a different way. He's learning to play a little bit more inside [the pitch as opposed to the wing], and that makes him more dangerous," Ancelotti said.

"Now he's less predictable by changing the position. He's combining very well with Rodrygo."

On this occasion, though, it appears that Vinicius will have to find that same connection with Brahim in a ground where Madrid were well beaten 3-1 back in September.

Real Madrid Starting XI: Lunin; Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy; Valverde, Tchouameni, Modric, Bellingham; Brahim, Vinicius

Atletico Madrid Starting XI: Oblak; Lino, Hermoso, Gimenez, Witsel, Llorente; Koke, Saul, De Paul; Griezmann, Morata