Cristiano Ronaldo to make surprise Copa del Rey appearance in Real Madrid clash with Celta Vigo

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to make his first Copa del Rey appearance of the 2016-17 campaign after being included in Real Madrid's 19-man squad for the first leg of their quarter-final with Celta Vigo on Wednesday (17 January). Elsewhere, Isco is also available following his recent injury issues, but Dani Carvajal, James Rodriguez, Fabio Coentrao, Pepe and long-term absentee Gareth Bale will all miss the clash.

Ronaldo played the full 90 during the weekend defeat to Sevilla in La Liga, but had previously been rested in the Copa del Rey's previous two rounds against Cultural Leonesa and the Andalucian side. Zidane made wholesale changes in both ties as he looked to prioritise La Liga and the Champions League this season.

However, the Real Madrid boss has this time named a strong squad to face Celta in an attempt to help his side bounce back from the league defeat to Sevilla.

Real Madrid saw a 40-match unbeaten run ended in that game after conceding two late goals, with Sergio Ramos's own goal late in the 90 being followed by former Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic netting a dramatic winner in stoppage time.

The French boss's tactics came under scrutiny following the game after he tried to surprise Jorge Sampaoli with a new 3-5-2 formation, making just one substitution during the whole encounter despite his side being 1-0 ahead with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Zidane, however, has defended his decisions while backing his team to respond to the disappointment with a victory over Celta.

"We lost a game, something that happens, and now we have to make sure that it doesn't happen again," the Real Madrid boss said. "When we do something we believe in what we do. I would not change anything I did [in the defeat to Sevilla]. I would have liked to keep winning, but when we lost it's because something happened. We have had time to analyse it and we have to rediscover our rhythm,"

"This isn't the first time we've played [3-5-2] and we know how to play this way. We've already done it three times. It's not new to the players. When you play three games against the same team you have to make changes. Both ourselves and Sevilla played the three games with three different line-ups. Sometimes you need to surprise your opponent."

The Real Madrid boss refused to confirm whether he will deploy his strongest line-up in the cup, pointing out that all 24 members of his squad are crucial for the fight for all three titles. James Coentrao, Pepe and Gareth Bale remain on the sidelines for the game, while Carvajal has been left out of the squad to be fresh for the weekend encounter with Real Sociedad.

"The other day before the Sevilla match there were three or four changes. We have a lot of games and before the next international break we play every three days and we need everyone," Zidane insisted. "We're getting players back but we're still without Pepe, Bale, Coentrao... they're slowly recovering and that's good because it makes me think more about who to pick.

"We are a group of 24 players and I'll always use them all. The message will not change, although sometimes I'll play the same team three or four times. I'll count on everyone from now until the end of the season. If we win something I'm convinced that it'll be because of the 24 players."

Danilo is expected to cover the right-back spot while Isco could also be back in Zidane's line-up after recovering from the muscle injury that has forced him to miss the last two games against Sevilla.

Zidane, meanwhile, has warned his side about the potential of Celta as Eduardo Berizzo's side arrive to the Santiago Bernabeu following five consecutive victories.

"I am not surprised by Celta's record and that they have won everything in 2017 because they're a very good team, they fight and play very good football. We have to go in to it as we know how, because it'll be another complicated match for us. It's a knock-out match and we'll see what happens tomorrow," the Real Madrid boss concluded.