Bale to start against Villarreal

 

Real Madrid's Gareth Bale again trained with the group and will be fit to face Villarreal on Saturday (20:00 CET). Carlo Ancelotti confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the Welshman will be in his starting line-up at the Santiago Bernabéu, having recovered from the calf injury that has seen him sit out Madrid’s recent matches: “He’ll start. He’s fine, he doesn’t have any problems and I think he’ll play well.”

Speaking to the media before the Appeals Committee’s decision to uphold Cristiano Ronaldo’s three-match ban, Ancelotti insisted that the Portugal international was still in his plans for the match against the 'Submarino Amarillo': “I am still planning on listing him for tomorrow’s game - until the Appeals Committee say that his suspension stands. We’ll see what happens. The issue about the referee is nothing to do with me and I don’t want to talk about it, I’m not interested.” Confirmation that Real Madrid’s appeal had been unsuccessful saw Cristiano left out of the squad.

Ancelotti also admitted that certain members of the squad have not returned to peak condition following Los Blancos’ Copa del Rey win over Atlético Madrid on Wednesday: “[Xabi] Alonso, Pepe and [Ángel] Di María haven’t completely recovered yet and maybe have to rest.” Casemiro is out with gastroenteritis and was not included in the Italian’s squad, which will be trimmed of two players.
Real Madrid squad:
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Diego López and Jesús.
Defenders: Pepe, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Coentrão, Carvajal, Arbeloa and Nacho.
Midfielders: Bale, Xabi Alonso, Modric, Di María, Isco and Illarra.
Forwards: Benzema, Jesé and Morata.