Espanyol v Real Madrid - Preview and possible lineups

'Los Blancos' also beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 in the Champions League a fortnight ago, after Zidane and his team had come under fire for winning just four out of 10 matches either side of Christmas.

While Madrid's hopes of catching Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga are at the very least remote, they can keep the pressure up with victory over an Espanyol side who are 15th and winless in their last seven games. But Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane will not let Espanyol's position in La Liga table fool him into thinking Tuesday's clash will be a stroll in the park for his rejuvenated side.

"We don't look at the table," said Zidane, who is taking nothing for granted. "Espanyol have shown very good things against the best teams this season. We know who we're up against and we'll have to have a great game to win again."

Espanyol have managed to beat Barca and Atletico at home, and were denied a second triumph over city rivals Barca by an 82nd-minute equaliser. Zidane added: "We want to continue the good run we're on. Every match starts from zero and we want to have another good game at a difficult ground."

Madrid welcome back captain Sergio Ramos after suspension but first-team regulars Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Marcelo remain out and battling to be fit for next week's second leg against PSG.

For Espanyol, Javi Lopez and Jairo Morillas are back in training after illness and injury respectively, but neither will be involved on Tuesday. Mario Hermoso also drops back out of the squad which drew 0-0 with Deportivo La Coruna, with Marc Roca coming in.

Quique Sanchez Flores' men have drawn their last four matches to slip into the bottom six and, while they remain a healthy nine points above the relegation zone, striker Gerard Moreno knows they need to get back to winning ways.

He said: "We would like to be higher, with more points. That's not the case and maybe that makes us a little more anxious going out looking to get the first goal and the win. We need to try and change this dynamic and start winning games in order to have the confidence to go out on the pitch more relaxed. Things aren't going great but I have total faith in the team and that we can turn things around."

Recent form:

Potential lineups:

Espanyol: Lopez, Martin, Lopez, Hermoso, Sanchez, Piatti, C.Sanchez, Darder, Jurado, Moreno, Baptistao

Real Madrid: Navas, Theo, Ramos, Varane, Nacho, Casemiro, Ceballos, Isco, Bale, Asensio, Benzema