Real Madrid will be without a key trio of players against Espanyol in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu today.
Eden Hazard suffered a bruised knee in Madrid’s 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain last week and was expected to be out for 10 days, but the problem is worse than originally thought, the club revealed on Thursday, and the Belgian could now be out for a month.
Real also announced on Thursday that Marcelo has picked up a calf problem and the Brazilian will be unavailable for Saturday’s game.
Gareth Bale, meanwhile, has a hamstring issue and will miss the match against Espanyol, along with the Champions League clash away to Club Brugge next week.
With Lucas Vazquez, James Rodriguez and Marco Asensio all out, coach Zinedine Zidane could include Brazilian teenagers Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior for the league clash, in which Karim Benzema should feature.
Isco is another alternative in Hazard’s absence, the midfielder having started and impressed in the past two games for Real - against PSG and Alaves.
Ferland Mendy will replace Marcelo at left-back, but Zidane is unlikely to make too many changes because the La Liga game takes priority over the Champions League clash on Wednesday, with Los Blancos already confirmed in second place in Group A - whatever happens in Bruges.
Real Madrid predicted XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy; Casemiro, Valverde, Kroos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Isco
Espanyol predicted XI: Diego Lopez; Calero, Espinosa, David Lopez; Roca; Pedrosa, Darder, Melendo, Avila; Wu, Calleri
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