Real Madrid will be taking on the newly promoted Elche on Wednesday night without the world’s most expensive player in the ranks. The club are already chasing champions Barcelona in the league table after having dropped two points. Barcelona have started the new season with six victories on the bounce. Hence, there is a lot of pressure on Madrid before they take on Elche, who could prove to be a surprise package of the season. Even though they are bottom of the table with no victories so far, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti believes that they should not be taken lightly.

Even more important for Madrid is the fact that they will be playing against their local rivals Atletico Madrid during the weekend, and they need to be in top form before they take on the second placed team in the division. Atletico Madrid also have a perfect start to the new season, and as a result, are currently second in the table. They are also two points ahead of their local rivals. Hence, Madrid do need to win the match not only to maintain the bragging rights, but also to leapfrog into the second position.

Ancelotti said that Bale will not be part of the Elche match, but he could be fit for the weekend.

“It will not be easy. Every match, before the game you have to stay focused, stay concentrated. Of course we have to consider that we have more quality but if we don’t use the same motivation, the same character of the opposing team, it will be difficult. Bale trained apart from the rest of the squad and I think he will be ready for Saturday no problem. He won’t be available tomorrow but we have time to train with him to prepare him well for Saturday,” said Ancelotti.