WARSAW, Sporting Alert – The Real Madrid 19-man squad for today’s Champions League Group F game against Legia Warszawa at Pepsi Arena.
Head coach Zinedine Zidane named a strong squad for the matchday 4 group stage tie in Warsaw, as he seeks to book a place into the last 16 early.
Topping the list of players in the squad are the attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale, with the likes of Alvaro Morata and Lucas Vazquez also included in the travelling party.
The Spanish giants will be without several key players, such as leading defender Sergio Ramos, who is out with a knee injury, with fellow centre-back Pepe missing with muscle problems.
Luka Modric (knee), Casemiro (leg), Marcelo (flu) and James Rodríguez (calf) all miss the trip as well.
However, Dani Carvajal returns and will join Raphael Varane, Fabio Coentrao, Danilo and Nacho in the battle for starting places at the back.
Toni Kroos, Isco and Mateo Kovacic, who is slowly becoming the kind of player Real Madrid had hoped for when they bought him, are among the midfielders in the squad.
Real Madrid can advance to the knockout round on Wednesday with a win over Legia Warszawa and a victory as well for Borussia Dortmund over Sporting CP.
Meanwhile, sights will also be on Zidane to see if the Frenchman rewards Morata with a starting place, given the form he’s been in recent outings.
Real Madrid hammered Legia 5-1 when these two sides met on matchday 3, with Morata among the goalscorers.
Bale, Asensio, Lucas Vázquez and an own goal did the trick for the Spanish leaders on Oct. 18 at Santiago Bernabeu.
Morata has so far scored seven goals on his return to the Spanish capital.
Despite that easy outcome last time round and the bookies overwhelming backing for a repeat, Zidane has warned his players to brace for something different on the road.
The game will be played behind closed doors at the Wojska Polskiego Stadium after crowd troubles and racist incidents forced UEFA to slap a sanction on the Polish side.
REAL MADRID SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas, Casilla and Rubén Yáñez.
Defenders: Carvajal, Varane, Nacho, Coentrão, Danilo and Tejero.
Midfielders: Kroos, Kovacic, Asensio and Isco.
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale, Lucas Vázquez, Mariano, Morata.
