Real Madrid will take on rivals FC Barcelona in less than 24 hours in the first of to El Clásico matches just this week. Unfortunately for Los Blancos, they will be without four players for this match.
Real Madrid manager Santiago Solari could likely use some help with his stress levels right about now. The former player has already had a daunting month of February with his squad playing in three different competitions.
To make matters worse, he will be without some important depth players on Wednesday night in the Santiago Bernabéu. Isco, Mariano Díaz, Jesús Vallejo, and Brahim Díaz will not dress for this match.
Isco has been rehabbing from a back injury he suffered two weeks ago and he just made his return to practice on Friday ahead of the match at Levante.
Brahim Díaz, the lone signing in the January transfer window, has been rather quiet since making the move from England to his home country of Spain, but this was what many fans expected to happen.
Neither Díaz nor Mariano are hurt – as far as we know – but the manager doesn’t see a need for them in this huge match. It will be interesting to see if Marcos Llorente will make the squad sheet for the weekend tie against Barca, but as for tomorrow, he will remain sidelined.
Isco’s role within the club and his future with Real Madrid still hangs in the air as he continues to miss out on big matches. As I made mention a few days back, the midfielder who thrived just 10 months ago under Zinedine Zidane is now nothing more than an outcast under Solari.
The 26-year-old has yet to make an appearance in nearly a month.
With only two days to rest and prepare after a hard-fought win over Levante on Sunday night, Los Blancos will have to dig deep in order to make it to the Copa final. It is helpful that Benzema got that away goal in the first leg to at least give Real the lead heading in.