Real Madrid are hoping to continue their perfect start to the season against an unbeaten Villarreal and will be boosted by the return of their two Galactico attackers Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
Bale and Ronaldo missed Los Blancos’ game against Espanyol last weekend, where they won 2-0 at the Cornellà-El Prat. The Portuguese winger was down with the flu, while Bale had suffered a knock in Real’s previous game against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.
However, both of them are set to return for the match against Villarreal on Wednesday. “They are both good,” Zidane said ahead of the game, according to ESPN.
“They trained normally and were fine, 100 percent. Both of them.”
Two players who look set to miss out on the match though are holding midfielder Casemiro and defender Pepe. Both players suffered minor injuries against Espanyol and will not recover in time for the next game.
“Pepe has an issue from the game against Espanyol and the situation remains the same,” said Zidane. “He will rest as we have a game on Saturday and our idea is that our four centre-backs play games. Nacho can also play at full-back, we could use him tomorrow.”
The Benzema-Bale-Cristiano trio are set to line up together once again and will hope to match the goal scoring form that their Barcelona’s Messi-Suarez-Neymar trio are on. Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema will be spearheading the attack, while Colombian playmaker James Rodriguez could also get the nod after scoring against Espanyol.
Luka Modric and Toni Kroos will start in central midfield, but could play deeper in the absence of the defensive shield Casemiro. Nacho, replacing the injured Pepe, will pair up with Sergio Ramos in central defence, flanked by the full-backs Dani Carvajal and Marcelo. Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas has kept two clean sheets this season for Real and will look to add to that tally against Villarreal.
