Bale was forced off early by a hip knock as Real came from behind in dramatic fashion to beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 on Wednesday in the Champions League.
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Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane is reportedly willing to sell one of his biggest stars to Manchester United. “He is not ready [for Espanyol tomorrow]”, he told reporters.
Ronaldo has a sore throat and will not travel to Catalonia as a result, while Bale is suffering from a hip problem and is being held back with Wednesday’s game against Villarreal in mind. “With so many games to play, we can not take risks. I prefer Bale to be there on Wednesday at 200%”. “He might have got a bang in the same spot and be out for 10 days, or more”. But in this instance, Zidane said he would not take any risks and give the Portuguese superstar a chance to repeat the feat.
Zidane hinted that James Rodriguez may finally get his chance to start for the first time this season in the absence of Ronaldo and Bale after impressing as a substitute against Sporting. “Things have not changed. All the players want to play, but we have a lot of games”, added Zidane.
During his speech, Zizou also stated that even when the BBC is 100% healthy, they don’t necessarily need to play every week. But that does not mean they must always play.
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“My idea is to always rotate, so that players think at any moment they will be called to play”. But now with key players missing out, the youngsters will look forward to continuing Los Blanco’s 100% record.
