Preview: Turegano vs. Celta Vigo - prediction, team news, lineups

The hosts currently ply their trade in the sixth tier and are making their first-ever appearance in the competition proper.

Match preview

Coming from a region with less than 1000 inhabitants, this will be a hugely significant moment in the history of Turegano, welcoming one of Spain's most consistent top-flight clubs to the area.

In what will be their first fixture in the competition proper, Turegano earned passage into the qualifying rounds thanks to finishing second in their respective regional division last season.

Beating fellow sixth-tier outfit Santurtzi 3-1 in their preliminary round encounter earned them a spot in this round, and they have been given a dream draw, facing a side from La Liga.

The Regional Amateur Division in Castile and Leon is where Turegano compete, and they currently lie sixth in Group A after seven games.

Their start to the season has been far from consistent though, as they have three wins, two draws and two defeats so far under manager Luis Berto.

Turegano come into this tie on the back of a respectable result at the weekend though, drawing 1-1 with second-placed CD Villamuriel.

Out of all the current top-flight sides, Celta arguably look the most likely to succumb to an upset in the Copa this week.

The club are out of sorts as the hiring of Rafael Benitez is clearly not having the desired effect so far.

After only staying up on the final day of last season thanks to a win over Barcelona, Gabri Veiga and Javi Galan have since left, and Celta find themselves in the bottom three again.

Just six points from 11 games so far has Benitez in troubling territory already, as their only win so far this season came against bottom-of-the-table Almeria, a side who have made the worst start defensively to a La Liga season in over 60 years.

Celta's only point in their last four games came in a draw against a Getafe side who were playing with 10 men for 60 minutes.

Early-season losses to Real Madrid and Real Mallorca saw them lose late on, before they squandered a 2-0 lead in the final 10 minutes in Montjuic to lose to Barcelona.

Recent defeats to Las Palmas and Girona have been just as gutting, as both games saw them lose deep into injury time to keep them rooted in the relegation zone.

Turegano Copa del Rey form:

Turegano form (all competitions):

Celta Vigo form (all competitions):

L

D

L

D

L

L

Advert - content below:

Team News

The most exciting threat in the Turegano side could well be 19-year-old Miguel Perez, one of the goalscorers from the 3-1 win in the previous round.

Veteran Carlos Cotrina also found the net in that famous win, and he is set to start up front on his own.

Manager Berto is likely to go with a very defensive setup given the gulf in quality between the two sides, so there may be a change in mentality compared to how they have started the season.

Celta's 36-year-old striker Iago Aspas is likely to be given a rest here, so new signing Anastasios Douvikas is set to come in for the club captain.

Luca de la Torre, Renato Tapia and Jonathan Bamba could also be left at home, as Benitez knows all three are likely to be on international duty in North America, South America and Africa in a few weeks so may want to reduce their workloads.

After recently returning from injury, this could be the perfect opportunity for Franco Cervi to get some minutes under his belt, but Carles Perez will miss out.

Goalkeeper Ivan Villar is available for selection after his sending off Atletico Madrid, but defenders Joseph Aidoo and Mihailo Ristic are currently sidelined.

Turegano possible starting lineup:

G Gomez; Javi Garcia, San Miguel, Carlos Garcia, J Martin; Del Barrio, G Martin, Miguel Perez; D Cotrina, C Cotrina, D Alcubilla

Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:

Villar; Kevin, Starfelt, Nunez, Manu Sanchez; Swedberg, Fran Beltran, Dotor, Cervi; Douvikas, Larsen

We say: Turegano 0-6 Celta Vigo

Despite Celta's woes domestically, there will not be too many bigger mismatches across the first round of action in this season's Copa del Rey.

Previews by email