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Cristiano Ronaldo to start against Atletico Madrid

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo will start in Wednesday's Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Atletico Madrid.

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo will start in Wednesday's Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Atletico Madrid.

The Portuguese is facing a domestic ban after seeing red in the 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao at the weekend, but will take part in the contest at the Bernabeu.

Ancelotti has also revealed that Gareth Bale, Fabio Coentrao and Alvaro Arbeloa could return to the team for the encounter.

"Ronaldo will start tomorrow. His red card was a harsh decision. Cristiano gets provoked a lot and receives many tackles in every game," Ancelotti told reporters at a press conference.

"[Fabio] Coentrao and [Alvaro] Arbeloa will both play tomorrow. [Gareth] Bale is available to play. He trained well.

"[Raphael] Varane is fine. If he doesn't play tomorrow, he will play on Saturday."

Madrid lost in the final of the Copa del Rey to Atletico last season.

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Karim Benzema of Real Madrid CF celebrates after scoring Real's 2nd goal during the La Liga match against Real Valladolid CF on November 30, 2013
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Real Madrid21154250203049
2Atletico MadridAtletico21136235142145
3Barcelona21133559243542
4Athletic Bilbao21117331181340
5Villarreal219753932734
6Mallorca219391926-730
7Rayo Vallecano217862524129
8GironaGirona218492929028
9Real Sociedad218491717028
10Real BetisBetis217772326-328
11Osasuna216962530-527
12Sevilla217682430-627
13Celta Vigo2174103033-325
14Getafe215881717023
15Las PalmasLas Palmas2165102634-823
16Leganes215881929-1023
17AlavesAlaves2156102533-821
18Espanyol2155112033-1320
19Valencia2137112036-1616
20Real ValladolidValladolid2143141442-2815


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