Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly believes Marco Asensio should start for Real Madrid away at Bayern Munich tomorrow night (7.45pm) if Karim Benzema is to be rested.
That’s the word from Diario Gol, who state that Los Blancos captain Sergio Ramos has declared Benzema must not start in their crunch Champions League semi-final first leg in Germany.
Benzema has scored just once in his last 10 matches in all competitions and has scored just nine goals in 39 appearances this season for the European champions.
And having been benched for their last continental contest, their second leg with Juventus at the Bernabeu, Diario Gol say that Ramos wants the France international to be dropped once again against Bayern.
While the Spanish publication report that Ronaldo usually prefers to play alongside Benzema, the Portuguese winger apparently recognises the forward’s poor form and is not against him being benched.
Yet with Gareth Bale perhaps the most natural candidate to replace Benzema, moving out to the wing to allow Ronaldo to play in a central role, the Real talisman instead wants to see Asensio start.
The Spanish playmaker would start on the left with Isco on the right and Ronaldo through the middle, with it almost certain that Lucas Vazquez will not be selected having played 90 minutes in their 1-1 La Liga draw with Athletic Bilbao at the weekend.
Diario Gol suggest that Zinedine Zidane could bring Isco, Gareth Bale and Casemiro all into the starting line-up after resting the trio against Bilbao, with Asensio and Vazquez then serving as options from the bench at the Allianz Arena.
Real Madrid are looking to reach a third consecutive Champions League final and their fourth in the last five years, having won all of their recent showpiece occasions in the competition.
They will face the winner of Liverpool’s tie with Roma, with the Premier League side playing host to their Italian opposition in their first leg tonight (7.45pm).