Jese set for Real return – Ancelotti

Jese Rodriguez is set to make his Real Madrid comeback in Tuesday’s Copa del Rey round-of-32 second leg against Cornella.

The 21-year-old forward has not played since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in Real’s UEFA Champions League fixture against Schalke in March.

However, speaking ahead of Tuesday’s match at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti confirmed Jese will return, while also revealing that 20-year-old midfielder Medran is in line for his maiden first-team start.

“Medran will play against Cornella and Jese will be playing in the second half,” the Italian told his pre-game media briefing on Monday.

Ancelotti went on to indicate that he plans to play a strong team against third-tier Cornella, despite having seen his side win the first leg 4-1 at the end of October.

Real are on a club-record streak of 16 consecutive victories in all competitions – and Ancelotti is determined to keep that run going, with only a handful of first-team regulars to be given a rest ahead of Saturday’s La Liga clash with Celta Vigo.

Among those to be given the evening off is Germany midfielder Toni Kroos, who claimed he feels tired last week.

“[Sami] Khedira is available,” Ancelotti added.

“Marcelo, Pepe, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Karim] Benzema and Kroos will rest. The others will all play.”