MADRID, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid face one of their favorite rivals when they travel to the RCDE Stadium to take on Espanyol on Tuesday for matchday 26 of Spain's La Liga.
Espanyol have not beaten Real Madrid since 2007 in all competitions. Madrid are unbeaten in 19 matches against the side from Barcelona.
Zinedine Zidane's side travel in arguably their best form of the season after a 4-0 win at home to Alaves which leaves them unbeaten in seven games in all competitions.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 10 of those goals and the Portuguese international has been in his best form of the season. CR7 scored two goals in the side's dominant display against Alaves.
That win re-opened the debate over the effectiveness of 'BBC' (Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo). It will be interesting to see whether Zidane decides to maintain faith in the attacking trio against Espanyol or brings Isco back into the midfield. Zidane will look to have his side in peak condition for next week's Champions League return leg against Paris Saint Germain.
Luka Modric, Tony Kroos and Marcelo are all still out with injury, but Sergio Ramos returns after a suspension and will go back into a team where Nacho Fernandez could move across to left back, despite Theo Hernandez's confident showing on Saturday.
Espanyol play Madrid in the middle of a worrying run of form and without a win in their last seven matches, the last four of which ended in draws.
The side coached by Quique Sanchez Flores retains a nine-point cushion keeping them out of the relegation zone, but defeat to Madrid and failure to win their following game, will leave them looking over their shoulder in the closing weeks of the campaign.??
