'Ronaldo is 100 percent, but Benzema & Casemiro are out'

Cristiano Ronaldo is “100 percent” fit for Real Madrid’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Manchester City on Wednesday, Zinedine Zidane has confirmed. 

However, the French coach also revealed that neither Karim Benzema nor Casemiro will be available for the game against the Premier League side. 

Ronaldo has not played in Madrid’s last three games after injuring his thigh in the win over Villarreal, but he has been training with his team-mates for the last few days. 

Benzema and Casemiro have not, though, and neither will feature against City at the Santiago Bernabeu.    

“Cristiano is fine, he is 100 percent and will play,” Zidane said in his pre-game press conference. 

“With Karim and Casemiro it’s different. We don’t want to take any risks, we have a big enough squad so that we don’t have to do that. 

“There is no risk of a relapse with Cristiano, he is 100 percent. We will see that tomorrow. 

“He has not recovered in just a couple of days, it’s been a week. He’s like that as a player, he recovers quickly and he takes care of himself. It’s not a question of two days. 

“We need Cristiano at 100 percent on the pitch with us, he’s different and he’s demonstrating that. I would have liked to have Casemiro and Karim, too, but we will do well [without them]. 

“Casemiro is Casemiro, but other players can do his job. We will try to put out the most competitive team possible. The player that plays [in his place] will do the same job.”