Zidane leaves Isco and Asensio out of the squad
Real Madrid coach Zidane has called up 19 players for tomorrows Champions League game against Sporting. Nacho and Mariano also miss out.
Real Madrid squad for the Champions League match vs Sporting
Zinedine Zidane has picked his Real Madrid squad for the Champions League group stage match against Portuguese side Sporting. The Real Madrid coach had all his players available (except for Coentrao and Keylor, still both recovering from injury), and solved his tetris-like problem by leaving out two important pieces: Isco and Marco Asensio.
In total Zidane has picked 19 players for the Sporting game, and apart from Isco and Asensio, Nacho, who started against Osasuna in the 5-2 win on Saturday, and Mariano also miss out.
Isco recovered from injury
Isco has been recovering from an injury, but Zidane, in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Osasuna game, said he'd recovered. However the player from Málaga has trained little with group and this is likely to be one of the reasons that led to him not being included in the squad.
What won't be overlooked though with this news is that Real Madrid did recommend to Isco that he look for a move away from the club this summer, advice the player rejected in order to stay and fight for his place.
No place for Asensio with James back
The absence of Marco Asensio is notable, with the player having been the hot news so far of Real Madrid's season. He's played 278 minutes and started, deservedly, the first three competitive matches played (at Anoeta he scored a neat chip, of the kind only scored by outstanding players). But on Saturday he started on the bench (coming on in the 63rd minute for Modric) and now with all the big-name midfielders back he misses out of the Sporting match. James, who was rested against Osasuna, is in the squad for Wedensday's match.
Zidane's squad to face Sporting Lisbon
Keepers: Casilla, Yáñez and Craninx.
Defenders: Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo and Danilo.
Midfielders: Kroos, James, Casemiro, Kovacic and Modric.
Strikers: Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale, Lucas Vázquez and Morata.