Zinedine Zidane has a full strength squad to choose from as Real Madrid prepare to host Barcelona at Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
The long-awaited El Clasico is finally here as Real Madrid get set to host bitter rivals Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, looking to close the gap to the top of the table. Ahead of the crunch tie, Zinedine Zidane is buoyed by the availability of his entire first-team squad, with no key player sidelined.
The only player who is on the treatment table is Luca Zidane, with the goalkeeper recovering from a shoulder injury. Sergio Ramos, Casemiro and Dani Carvajal are set to return after missing the 5-0 thrashing of Sevilla two weeks ago due to suspension.
Cristiano Ronaldo is fit and available after there were scares earlier this week when he missed training upon returning from the Club World Cup triumph. And Zidane spoke about the availability of his team’s talisman in his pre-match press conference, claiming that the Portuguese superstar is 100%.
? Here’s our 19-man squad for El Clásico! ?#RMMovistar | #RMClasico pic.twitter.com/FkcAAatW69
— Real Madrid C.F.?? (@realmadriden) December 22, 2017
“He’s okay. He’s 100%. He’s trained today and what interests me is this. I’m not going to go in to things that aren’t football related. For what he has done and what Cristiano Ronaldo is to this club he deserves all the respect from the club and he has it. After the holidays we’ll talk about that but the important thing is tomorrow’s game.”
Gareth Bale has had another campaign to forget, not due to the performances that he has put in, but because of a spate of injuries that have hindered his participation once again. Heading into the Clasico though, the Welshman is fit and available, and Zidane confirmed the same, glad that he has a full squad to choose from.
“I always trust my players and communication is the most important thing. I’ll not choose a player because I want him to play in a Clásico. I trust my players and they can get injured, but the important thing is that I think he is 100% to play. We’ll see if he [Bale] plays or not tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow all the players will be there and that’s good, but at the same time bad because I have to leave some out. I have all the options and tomorrow I will choose for the match.”
