Real Madrid have been boosted by the timely return of Eden Hazard for their Champions League semi-final first leg with Chelsea on Tuesday night.
The former Blues attacker has been plagued by injuries ever since completing a move to the Bernabeu, but he returned to action off the bench against Real Betis and will certainly have some part to play against his old club.
However, Zinedine Zidane will be well aware of the dangers of risking Hazard from the start too soon, so he may opt to leave the Belgian on the bench for now, allowing Marco Asensio to continue in attack.
Vinicius Junior was also benched at the weekend, but he replaced Rodrygo after 59 minutes against Betis and propelled Real Madrid to victory over Liverpool in the quarter-finals, so he will hope to get the nod over his counterpart.
Toni Kroos is expected to overcome muscular discomfort in time to feature, so the German should form a familiar midfield three with Casemiro and Luka Modric as Isco drops out.
Federico Valverde is not available for the first leg after contracting coronavirus, while Zidane will also be forced to cope without three defensive players in Lucas Vazquez (knee), Sergio Ramos (calf) and Ferland Mendy (calf) for the first leg.
However, Raphael Varane and Dani Carvajal are both back in the fold to boost Zidane's defensive options, while Nacho will hope to keep his spot at left-back after playing his part in three of Real's last four clean sheets.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Militao, Nacho; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric; Asensio, Benzema, Vinicius
> Click here to see how Chelsea could line up for this clash
Ben Knapton
