Ronaldo, Bale out of Real Madrid’s visit to Espanyol

Star forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale were absent from Real Madrid’s final training session for the trip to Espanyol on Sunday.

Bale is still in pain after the hard knock he got on his hip last Wednesday while Ronaldo has the flu. Zinedine Zidane’s men are the only side in the Spanish top flight with a 100% record so far, and another win at Cornella El Prat would maintain their position at the top of the table.

With Madrid having played a demanding and dramatic Champions League game against Sporting Club on Wednesday, and another La Liga match against Villarreal coming up in midweek, expect los Blancos to rotate a few players.

“Cristiano won’t travel. He has a problem with his throat and is not ready to play”, Zidane said on Saturday. “With so many games to play, we can not take risks”.

So far this season Isco has only started the European Super Cup match against Sevilla, where Madrid were low on numbers following global competitions in the summer, and has since seen the likes of Mateo Kovacic and James Rodriguez preferred for game time this season. “We have many games”, he added.

“We always try to make rotations, so that everyone feels important and they feel like they can play at any moment”.

Zidane said that the Portuguese star’s absence could favour Colombian James Rodrigues to get some game time after assisting Alvaro Morata in his 95th-minute victor over Sporting.

“He wants to play like everyone else and he’s going to contribute a lot”.

Madrid is aiming for a fourth win in as many rounds.