The second legs of the quarter finals of the Champions League take place this week as Real Madrid news focuses on their clash against Liverpool.
Zinedine Zidane’s side are in a strong position in the tie having won last week’s first leg in Madrid 3-1, but are without a number of star players.
The major team news sees Eden Hazard fail to recover from injury in time to make the squad as he once again must watch on from the sidelines, as reported by Cadena Cope.
Hazard came on for a late cameo appearance in the clash in La Liga against Elche earlier in March after a two-month layoff but had then suffered another fitness setback.
The Belgian star was diagnosed with a muscle injury in the right psoas but decided not to undergo surgery on the issue on the advice of the medical teams of his national side and Real Madrid.
His continued absence prolongs his injury agony since joining the club in 2019 – and he has played only a bit-part role this campaign.
The report adds that also unavailable are right-back Dani Carvajal – who had, like Hazard, returned to training this week – while club captain Sergio Ramos also sits out through injury and Raphael Varane has Covid-19.
Lucas Vazquez is also out for the season and leaves a void at right-back which is likely to be filled by Alvaro Odriozola – who has been a peripheral figure at Los Blancos in recent months.
In more positive news for the Spanish champions, midfielder Fede Valverde is set to be included in the squad despite sustaining a knock in Saturday’s El Clasico victory over Barcelona.