New Real coach to stick with high-risk Cup strategy

Real Madrid will stick to their strategy of treating the early rounds of the King's Cup as a test bed for young talent in Tuesday's derby at third division Leganes.

Ronaldo, Michel Salgado, Raul and Roberto Carlos have been excused first round Cup duty while Santiago Solari and David Beckham are injured, and Guti is suspended.

Striker Michael Owen, who scored two match-winning goals last week, is hoping to start again on Tuesday but the England striker will be surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

Coach Mariano Garcia Remon, in charge since mid-September, called up 10 members of the club's B team for training on Monday. Owen and centre-back Francisco Pavon are likely to be the only first team regulars to start.

"This is a very attractive competition but it requires a different type of player," the coach said.

"My team is not going to be without all the regulars, I'll choose a competitive team to win the match. The season is long enough for all the players to feature."

Leganes came close to pulling off a shock victory over Real in last year's Cup second round when the nine-times European champions needed a last-gasp Solari goal to force extra time.

Real survived that scare to reach the final, only to lose to Real Zaragoza. They have to look back more than a decade to their last Cup win in 1993.

"We've waited a long time to win this competition but why not this year?" Garcia Remon said. "We have to win a series of finals to get to the end and we know there's no margin for error."

Deportivo Coruna and Osasuna are also in action on Tuesday, away to fourth division Cerceda and third division Castellon respectively.

Holders Zaragoza face a tricky game at second division Gimnastic on Wednesday while league leaders Barcelona are at third division Gramenet.

The opening round ties are played on a one-off basis, with the team from the lower division always enjoying home advantage.