Gareth Bale is a doubt for Real Madrid’s match against Rayo Vallecano later today, after the Welshman picked up a knock to his right foot during training on Tuesday.
The club’s medical staff will evaluate the extent of the injury today, but the indication is that Carlo Ancelotti will elect to bench the forward as a precaution ahead of an important set of fixtures for the club.
After today, Real Madrid play Eibar on Saturday and then have to prepare for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid next Tuesday.
When asked about the training ground incident during his pre-match press conference, Ancelotti’s response was: “We have had a problem. He has a knock that needs to be looked at.”
Normally, with Bale in the lineup, Ancelotti prefers to play 4-3-3 with the Welshman required to put in a shift in defense when Madrid don’t have the ball.
Should the forward miss today’s match against Rayo, it would come as no surprise if the manager elected to switch to a 4-4-2, with Ronaldo and Benzema up front.
This would also allow for midfielders James Rodriguez and Isco to feature in the lineup at the same time – thus muting the ongoing debate as to which midfielder should feature in Madrid’s starting eleven.
Programming note: Rayo Vallecano vs. Real Madrid will be shown LIVE today at 4:00pm EST on beIN SPORTS and fuboTV.
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