Zidane coy about Kroos and Bale's chances of making UEFA Super Cup
Zinedine Zidane, manager of Real Madrid, continues to hide his cards regarding the chances of Welshman Gareth Bale and German Toni Kroos playing against Sevilla next Tuesday.
Following the friendly win against Bayern Munich, Zidane failed to confirm their availability when asked if the duo will be fit for the European Super Cup, but the truth is that the French coach believes they will be.
The technical staff of 'Los Blancos' do not want to reveal their team to their opponents ahead of the game, and prefer not to discuss the fact that the two players are training on their own to be fit in time.
When asked about the condition of Bale, Kroos and also defender Pepe, Zidane responded:
"I don't think they will play. They still have to return and we will see them in Madrid."
However one detail shows the hope that Real Madrid have in playing both Bale and Kroos against the Andlausian club.
They have left out Portuguese internationals Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo from their list of available players for the match, but the names of Kroos and Bale do appear, as does that of Karim Benzema, who continues to recover from hip soreness.
The three players appear on the list of 25 sent to UEFA, along with youth teamers Ruben Yañez, Philipp Lienhart, Marcos Llorente, Martin Odegaard and Mariano Diaz.
Zidane ruled out Cristiano a while back, for the injury he suffered in the Euro 2016 final, and he does not want to rush Pepe back either, as he has sufficient defensive cover in his squad, Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos will start.
He is aware however, that he can not afford the luxury of ruling out Kroos and Bale.
Both should return to training on Friday, though Zidane has allowed those players who participated in the tour of the USA a break until Saturday.
Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo are due back on August 10.
In the case of Benzema, the French striker has not disputed a minute of pre-season action so far, though Zidane said "he is better and we hope he will be able to play."
