Real Madrid will look to increase their lead at the top of the La Liga when they take on Cordoba on Saturday.
Carlo Ancelotti's men currently hold a one-point lead at the top of the table, with a game in hand, and that lead can be extended to four points with a victory over Cordoba, even if it might be only for a couple of hours, with Barcelona playing Elche right after the Real match.
Real Madrid bounced back from the disappointment of getting knocked out of the Copa Del Rey at the hands of Atletico Madrid with a comfortable win at Getafe last week, where Cristiano Ronaldo, as usual, scored two goals, and Ancelotti will want another similar performance against Cordoba.
"I have a serious and professional team," said the Real Madrid manager. "We are all completely focused on these extremely important games, like the recent fixture against Getafe. We need to hold onto our lead because the teams behind us are doing very well."
Cordoba are currently 14th in the table with 18 points from 19 matches, just four points off the bottom, and even if they are playing at home against Real Madrid, a point will be considered as a major success.
"In Cordoba we will be up against a side that is playing more confidently than before," said Ancelotti. "They changed their manager and have been enjoying a good run of form. We will need to be careful.
"Their supporters are also well up for this game. It will a difficult match and we have to try to do our best."
Real Madrid will be without Isco for this match, meaning a chance to shine from the start for either Sami Khedira or Asier Illarramendi. Apart from that change, Ancelotti is expected to go with a similar lineup that won last weekend.
"We won't need to rotate players tomorrow," added Ancelotti on Friday. "We have had a week of training and the team is in good shape.
"The only player who'll be out is Isco. He got a knock against Getafe and is still unavailable to play. Illarra or Khedira will fill in for him.
"We haven't let our competitive rhythm drop as we've been training very well."
Where to Watch Live
The match is scheduled for a 4 pm local time (8.30 pm IST, 3 pm GMT, 10 am ET) start with live coverage in India on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD1. Viewers in India can also catch all the match action via live streaming online on Starsports.com.
Viewers in the UK can catch all the action live stream the match on Sky Go. The Real Madrid vs Cordoba game will be shown live in the US and Canada on Bein Sports USA and Bein Sports Canada respectively with the live stream option on Bein Sports Connect.
