MADRID, Sporting Alert – Zinedine Zidane has named his squad for Tuesday evening’s crucial Champions League quarter-final second-leg clash with Wolfsburg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Among the players listed in the squad are striker Karim Benzema and defender Raphael Varane, who have both shaken off injuries to hand their manager a big boost heading into the matchup.
“[Benzema] is completely recovered from the knock,” said Zidane. “He’s ready to play, well and focused.”
Also included in the squad are winger Gareth Bale and central midfielder Toni Kross, and they are expected to return to the starting lineup after missing the easy victory over Eibar in the league at the weekend.
Real Madrid shockingly lost the first leg of the tie 2-0 in Germany and will have their hands full in the second leg.
However, midfielder Luka Modric is confident that Los Blancos have all the quality to turn the tie around.
“We’re capable of turning it around tomorrow with the support of our fans, which is very important,” he said on www.realmadrid.com.
“I’m sure they are going to be behind us. It’s the only thing that we’re thinking about. It is going to be difficult, we’ve got a negative result against a good team but we’re capable of turning it around.
“We have to show that on the field.”
The Croatian added: “We start with the result against us but we need to play our game. We can’t allow for mistakes so we have to be focused from the first minute.”
Meanwhile, despite facing a huge task of coming back from a two goal deficit and needing to stop Wolfsburg from scoring on the road, Zidane is confident his players are up for the challenge.
“We’re going to be together. The players know the game that we have to play. What worried me the most was seeing the players’ faces, but I’ve seen that they’re up for it and they know what is ahead,” he said.
“This releases pressure. We’re 2-0 down, we have to score, but there’s 90 minutes or more to do that. The message is to be patient.
“In La Liga we were 13 points with the goal from Barcelona, now it’s 4. Everything happens in football.”
REAL MADRID SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas, Casilla and Yanez.
Defenders: Varane, Pepe, Ramos, Nacho, Marcelo, Carvajal, Arbeloa and Danilo.
Midfielders: Kroos, James, Bale, Casemiro, Kovacic, Modric and Isco.
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Lucas Vázquez, Jesé and Mayoral.
