Gareth Bale has not recovered in time from the knock he took out on Tuesday’s training session and will miss Real Madrid’s trip to Valencia for the last match of the year.
The Welshman suffers a contusion in his calf muscle and Carlo Ancelotti has decided to rest him. However, the Italian coach has insisted the injury is not serious and he will be fit to play in January.
“The injury he has is just a knock. It is not a serious injury, but he won’t be available for tomorrow. He hasn’t had the necessary time to recover,” Ancelotti said.
Argentinian winger Angel di Maria will replace Bale in the starting eleven.
Sami Khedira and Raphael Varane are still on the sidelines as well. The German is undergoing a specific recovery programme, while the Frenchman is training inside the gym. Fabio Coentrao is also out injured.
Ancelotti has picked 19 men for the squad that will travel to Valencia to face Mestalla’s side tomorrow. The Italian has surprised including Castilla’s centre-back Diego Llorente, who will replace suspended Pepe.
This is the full squad that will make the trip to Valencia: Casillas, Diego Lopez, Jesus Fernandez, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Daniel Carvajal, Alvaro Arbeloa, Diego Llorente, Nacho Fernandez, Xabi Alonso, Casemiro, Luka Modric, Di Maria, Isco, Asier Illarramendi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Jese Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata.
