Brazilian left-back Marcelo is a huge doubt for Real Madrid ahead of the first El Clasico of the season against Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.
Marcelo picked up a muscle injury in Madrid’s 6-0 rout against Galatasaray in the Champions League on November 6.
And while he has since recovered, head coach Zinedine Zidane is said to be wary of putting his player in a position where he could aggravate it.
And according to Marca, Marcelo has been ‘unable to train with team-mates’ and therefore will be forced to sit out the trip to the Nou Camp.
Marcelo has sat out Madrid’s last three matches with Ferland Mendy and Nacho stepping in to fill the left-back void.
If Marcelo does miss the trip to Barcelona, Real Madrid will be buoyed by Mendy’s suspension reaching its conclusion after he served his ban following a red card against Espanyol.
However there was to be better news elsewhere in the squad for Madrid with Marcelo’s Brazilian compatriot Casemiro and Welsh winger Gareth Bale fit to train and look set to be involved.
Real Madrid and Barcelona go into the game level on points after 16 games with 35 points apiece, with the Catalans ahead on goals difference.
At the weekend Barcelona were forced to a 2-2 away draw against Real Sociedad while a late Karim Benzema goal secured a 1-1 away draw for Madrid against Valencia.
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