29/01/2003 00:00
TW
0

REAL Mallorca will face Zinedine Zidane and Raul in tonight's Copa del Rey quarter-final, second-leg after Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque decided to switch his usual Cup tactics. Del Bosque has fielded a “reserve team” in the Cup so far this season, resisting the temptation to call on his wealth of international stars. Last week, however, he did start Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo in the first-leg at the Bernabeu which ended in a 1-1 stalemate, while Luis Figo and Raul came on as late substitutes. The Madrid coach is suitably worried after Mallorca dominated last Thursday night's clash and will play French midfielder Zidane and Spain striker Raul from the start in a bid to qualify for the semi-finals. Defensive maestro Ivan Helguera is also likely to be in the line-up, while England midfielder Steve McManaman will keep his place despite an abstract performance in the first-leg. Although Madrid beat Mallorca 5-1 last December at Son Moix, the Islanders will go into tonight's match confident they have a chance of overcoming the European champions. Madrid had a disappointing 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao at the weekend, losing ground on league leaders Real Sociedad, while a ten-man Mallorca went down fighting 1-0 at Malaga, their first defeat in six matches. The good news for Mallorca coach Gregorio Manzano is the return of Colombian midfielder Harold Lozano from injury. Lozano's presence in the middle of the park has been sorely missed over the past few matches and his ability to break up attacks will be welcome against Madrid. Mallorca's woes at the back continue however, with Miguel Angel Nadal, Javier Olaizola and Vicente Fernandez all out forcing Manzano to persist with Fernando Niño and Federico Lussenhoff in central defence. Miquel Soler will replace the suspended Poli on the left. Yesterday Manzano warned his side not to play for a nil-nil draw in the hope of going through on the away goal rule. “Madrid are of course the favourites to qualify for the semi-finals,” said Manzano yesterday. “But we are going out there to win and I am convinced the game will not end up scoreless. “It's still very complicated and although we had a great result in the first-leg we have to approach the match with a winning mentality.” Manzano was not overly worried about which side Del Bosque fielded. “The players picked will play and like I said last week they all have enough quality to play in any Primera Division side they want.”