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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
1Atletico MadridAtletico18125133122141
2Real Madrid18124241182340
3Barcelona19122551222938
4Athletic Bilbao19106329171236
5Villarreal188643430430
6Mallorca199371921-230
7Real Sociedad187471613325
8GironaGirona187472625125
9Real BetisBetis186752122-125
10Osasuna186752327-425
11Celta Vigo187382728-124
12Rayo Vallecano185762021-122
13Las PalmasLas Palmas186482327-422
14Sevilla186482027-722
15Leganes184681728-1118
16AlavesAlaves184592130-917
17Getafe183781115-416
18Espanyol1843111630-1415
19Valencia172691626-1012
20Real ValladolidValladolid1833121237-2512


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