Real Madrid daily round-up: Ronaldo, Bale, Zidane, Raúl…

Espanyol vs Real Madrid live English

Pre-match training without Cristiano and Bale

The squad will train at Valdebebas this morning at 11:00 CEST ahead of Sunday’s LaLiga trip to Espanyol (20:45 CEST). Coach Zinedine Zidane will give his customary pre-match press conference following the session. Yesterday’s training session was marked by the absence of two key players, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, who worked alone in the gym as part of their injury rehabilitation programmes.

Zidane set to make changes

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is set to make large-scale changes to the side that beat Sporting Lisbon in mid-week with four matches coming up in the next nine days. Read the whole story here.

Keylor not back to full fitness

Today marks the 100^th day since goalkeeper Keylor Navas underwent surgery on his Achilles tendon. The Costa Rican is back training with the squad but is yet to make an appearance this season as he continues with his rehabilitation. Medical sports specialist Jose González says that Keylor is recovering well but that “professional sports injuries are very serious” and that he’s “not cured quite yet.”

Coentrao rejoins the squad

Five months after sustaining muscle injury in his right leg that would ultimately keep him out of Portugal’s victorious Euro 2016 campaign, Fabio Coentrao yesterday completed his first full training session. He won’t be included in the squad to face Espanyol on Sunday as he is still some way short of full match fitness.

Asensio has a great future, says Raul

Real Madrid legend Raúl González said yesterday that Marco Asensio has earned his place in the Real Madrid squad. “I’m convinced that he’ll contribute a lot at Real Madrid because he’s a game changer,” said the former Madrid forward. Asensio didn’t feature on Wednesday night against Sporting but could come into the starting line-up against Espanyol on Sunday.