Casillas to play for Madrid in Copa del Rey

Published Oct. 29, 2013 9:55 a.m. ET

foxsports

Reduced to backup in the Spanish league, Iker Casillas will be Real Madrid's starting goalkeeper in the Copa del Rey plus the Champions League.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti tells Cadena Cope radio ''Casillas, for being such a professional, deserves the Champions League (...) the Champions League and the Copa.''

Casillas, captain of Madrid and Spain, has said he will consider leaving the Spanish club he has started for for the past decade if he doesn't play more.

He hasn't started for Madrid in league play since December when he was benched by former coach Jose Mourinho.

Ancelotti has kept Diego Lopez as his starter in league games.

The Copa del Rey will incorporate teams from the first division in December.