DBasia.news – Two Real Madrid stars, Gareth Bale and Luka Modric, were officially excluded when they visited the headquarters of the Turkish giants Galatasaray in the Group A Champions League 2019-2020 match on Wednesday (10/23) early morning Western Indonesian Time later.
As quoted from the AS, both are absent after suffering injuries while strengthening their respective national teams at international breaks. Modric was injured in the thigh while defending Croatia against Wales, while Bale suffered an injury in his left leg.
The absence of the two players is an alarm for Real Madrid. Moreover, Zinedine Zidane’s team has yet to win after going through two Champions League games with a 0-3 defeat to PSG and a 2-2 draw against Club Brugge.
Without Modric and Bale, El Real will rely on other players as his successor. Modric can be replaced with Isco or James Rodriguez, while Bale can be replaced by Rodrygo Goes or Vinicius Junior.
The three other players were forced to be absent, namely Nacho Fernandez, Lucas Vazquez, and Marco Asensio due to injury.
Interestingly, despite losing five main players, Zidane was allegedly still stubbornly not going to lose Mariano Diaz to the field. Because Diaz has never played from the start of the 2019-20 season.
However, Madrid still has other stars such as Eden Hazard, Dani Carvajal and Toni Kroos who have returned to the Madrid squad to fight Galatasaray. Previously, Hazard was reportedly absent because of the birth of his fourth child.
Real Madrid needs a victory against Galatasaray. If they draw or lose in that crucial match, Madrid has the potential to rank third in the Champions League group A and going down to the Europa League caste. Madrid is currently at the bottom of the standings with one point, under PSG (six points), Club Brugge (two points) and Galatasaray (one point).
Here is Real Madrid’s squad to fight Galatasaray:
Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois, Alphonse Areola, Altube.
Defenders: Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Marcelo, Alvaro Odriozola, Benjamin Mendy.
Midfielders: Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Federico Valverde, James Rodriguez, Isco.
Attackers: Eden Hazard, Karim Benzema, Luka Jovic, Brahim Diaz, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes.