Ronaldo, Benzema & Pepe fitness concerns as Madrid prepare for City
With just two days to go until their Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester City, Real Madrid have fitness concerns over some of their key players, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
The Portuguese forward was back on the Valdebebas training pitch on Sunday, taking part in a running exercise. The Madrid No.7 has had a thigh strain, which kept him out of the win at Rayo Vallecano, and he has still not completely recovered.
Meanwhile, Madrid are sweating on the fitness of French forward Karim Benzema, who was taken off injured at Rayo. He underwent tests on Sunday to discover the extent of his injury, although Zinedine Zidane said on Saturday he was confident it was just a knock.
As for Gareth Bale and Pepe, neither player took part in training on Sunday. Both players did work with the first-team’s physiotherapists instead.
The good news for Zidane, though, is that Dani Carvajal has recovered from an injury and was able to train with his team-mates. Madrid are due to travel to Manchester on Monday, where they will continue their preparations for the game.
