Ronaldo could be rested as Zidane favours rotation
Zinedine Zidane could rest Cristiano Ronaldo against Granada this weekend, as he continues to rotate his squad with Champions League glory in mind.
Zinedine Zidane is pondering resting Cristiano Ronaldo, the hat-trick hero of Madrid’s triumph over Atlético in the Champions League semi-final.
'Madrid B' impressive
The French coach is thinking of deploying the rotation policy that worked so well against Deportivo, Sporting, Leganés, and Eibar. Madrid emerged from those four matches, in which the so-called ‘B Team’ was deployed, with four wins.
Madrid’s second string gave such a fine account of themselves, that after the 2-6 demolition of Depor in El Riazor, Pepe Mel said he would rather face Real Madrid ‘A’ than ‘B’.
At Los Cármenes, the home of already-relegated Granada, Zidane may take the opportunity to rest some first-team regulars. Madrid face Atlético at the Calderón the following Wednesday, and are in a good position to progress to the Champions League final in Cardiff.
Morata, James, and co. may feature
The likes of Alvaro Morata, Lucas Vázquez, James Rodríguez, Mateo Kovacic, and Marco Asensio will be vying for a return to the starting line-up. The La Liga title race remains finely poised. Barcelona and Real Madrid both have 81 points, although the Bernabéu side have one game in hand.
Zidane has Ronaldo on side
Zidane has managed to convince Ronaldo that he is best served by preserving his energy for the high-profile matches.
This season, he has played 75% of the possible minutes, the lowest since he arrived in Madrid (apart from his first season where he suffered a bad ankle injury). The approach appears to have been effective; the Portuguese has scored eight goals in his last three Champions League matches.
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