I keep on with picks on Real Madrid, even though they've been mainly failing to deliver anything I select regarding their games.

I truly believe, they've hit the rock bottom with the Cup defeat against a noname club, whose name I'd not even care to google up again. 1-2 defeat with a 1 man advantage in extra time - there couldn't be a performance worse than that.

To make matters even more complicated, manager Zidane fell out with COVID later in the week and misses this game out.

I am positive, that regardless of how arrogant Real's squad generally is - they have to show a reaction to this humiliating defeat in the Copa del Rey. There are fans outside the stadium still applying pressure and demanding a certain level of commitment from players wearing the shirt.

Alaves is in many ways a comfortable opponent in their current condition. What Real does not like to face under Zidane is a team with disciplined low defensive line - Alaves is nowhere near that. They've been absolutely terrible in terms of organisation. Besides, there are clear discipline issues as players get red carded every other game.

There was a change of manager in Alaves, which seemed inevitable with the recent form swings. Machin made way for Abelardo, who had the time of his career with Alaves a few seasons ago. However, the team he's inherited has little to do with what he had before. It will definitely take some time to get fixed.

Visitors have 0 squad problems ahead of the game, which is a rare case when Real is playing. Only right fullback Carvajal is a minor doubt, but should get the green light to feature.

Hosts are also at full strength for the showdown.

I am expecting Real to show an instant reaction to the midweek Cup flop with a trademark low scoring win.

我一直看好皇马。我真的相信，他们在杯赛上输给了一个不知名的俱乐部，他们已经跌到谷底了，我甚至都不想再提这个名字了。1-2败北，加时赛还多打1人——没有比这更糟糕的表现了。

让事情更加复杂的是，主教练齐达内在本周晚些时候与新冠肺炎发生了争执，因此错过了这场比赛。

我很肯定，不管皇马的阵容有多傲慢，他们都必须对这次在国王杯的耻辱失利做出反应。仍然有球迷在球场外施加压力，要求穿着球衣的球员做出一定程度的承诺。

在目前的情况下，阿尔维斯在很多方面都是一个令人满意的对手。在齐达内的带领下，皇马最不喜欢面对的是一支有着纪律严明的低防线的球队，而阿拉维斯远没有这样的水平。他们的组织能力非常糟糕。除此之外，还有很明显的纪律问题，球员每隔一场比赛就会被红牌罚下。

阿拉维斯的教练换了，这似乎是不可避免的，因为最近的形式变化。梅钦让位给了阿维拉多，阿维拉多在几个赛季前曾效力于阿拉维斯。然而，他继承的这支球队与他之前拥有的几乎没有关系。修理它肯定需要一些时间。

客队在比赛前没有出现任何阵容问题，这在皇马比赛时是很少见的。只有右后卫卡瓦哈尔是一个小问题，但应该能够参赛。

阿拉维斯也将全力备战这场决战。

我希望皇马能在周中杯失利后，以一场标志性的小胜做出反应。