Minnows Eibar look to defy football logic against Real Madrid

Real Madrid are involved in one of the biggest games of contrasts in the Spanish La Liga when they travel to face Eibar Saturday.

The Basque side, were promoted to the Primera Liga for the first time in their history at the end of last season, a magnificent achievement for a club whose Ipurua Stadium holds just 5,200 fans, roughly 18 times less than Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu, reports Xinhua.

Meanwhile Real Madrid's budget for the campaign is roughly 35 times that of their rival's less than 16 million euros a year, which is the same as Real Madrid's star striker Cristiano Ronaldo's annual wage.

To put things into perspective, Ronaldo earns as much in three days as the two players who will have the job of marking him on Saturday earn in a season.

Nevertheless, the Eibar players have refused to be intimidated by the task ahead of them with full back Eneko Boveda saying the squad is treating the occasion like any other game.

"we have not altered out routine because it is Real Madrid," said Boveda.

Real Madrid will travel north in confident mood following a run of 12 straight wins and with an average of scoring almost four goals a game this season.

That is due to the excellent form of Ronaldo, who has netted 17 league goals, four more than the entire Eibar team this season, while Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Isco have also been close to their best.

Bale should take his place in the starting 11 at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium, although there are doubts over who will replace the injured Luka Modric. The Croatian playmaker will be out of action for at least three months after suffering ligament damage while playing for Croatia.

And with Asier illaramendi also injured, Real Madrid boss, Carlo Ancelotti has to choose between bringing Sami Khedira back into the side or dropping Isco into a more central role alongside Tony Kroos and James Rodriguez.

Given the tight dimensions of the Ipurua pitch and the physical level Eibar will try to impose on the match, Khedira could get the nod and Rodriguez could find himself on the substitutes' bench.

Logic dictates Real Madrid should win, but they would be well advised to remember Eibar gave as good as they got away to Barcelona for over an hour earlier this season and a trip to Ipurua could well prove to be one of their toughest challenges this campaign.