Zidane's first dilemma: No Casemiro replacement
Zinedine Zidane will make his re-debut as the manager of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday with Casemiro suspended and Marcos Llorente injured.
Zidane took his first training session with Real Madrid on Wednesday and is already faced with his first headache: who will replace Casemiro against Celta Vigo on Saturday. The Brazilian recieved the first red card of his career against Valladolid on Sunday and there is no natural replacement for him in the squad.
Marcos Llorente is the obvious replacement but he is out injured. He did train at Valdebebas on Wednesday but he trained alone and hasn't touched the ball yet as he continued his recovery. His chances of playing are close to zero.
Zidane has a dilemma for his first game and he has two potential options. Toni Kroos, who publicly said he isn't like Casemiro and doesn't like the position. He was also tried out in that role against Athletic Bilbao and the results were not good although he might be willing to sacrifice his natural position in an effort to get the fans back on his side following some poor recent form. Fede Valverde is another option but Zidane doesn't know him very well given he spend time at Castille and at Depor on loan during Zidane's first sting on the sideline with Real Madrid.
The rest of the midfielders in the squad including Isco, Ceballos and Modric like to play further forward and this rules them out as options.