Line-ups: Espanyol-Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are out, so the onus is on James Rodriguez for Real Madrid this evening against Espanyol in La Liga.

Zinedine Zidane vowed to rotate his Madrid squad for the trip to Cornella-El Prat, and while Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio are bestowed the honours of replacing Ronaldo and Bale, all eyes will be on James, who comes in for Toni Kroos.

Vazquez and Asensio enjoyed successful loan spells with Espanyol prior to their respective Madrid returns, while Kiko Casilla made over 100 appearances in the Catalans’ goal between 2008 and 2015.

Speaking of Espanyol, Javi Fuego’s red card at Real Sociedad last week means a start for Papakouli Diop in their midfield.

Espanyol: Diego Lopez; J Lopez, David Lopez, O Duarte, Victor; Perez, Diop, Roca, Piatti; Baptistao, Gerard

Subs: Roberto, Duarte, Reyes, Demichelis, Reyes, Caicedo, Alvaro Vazquez

Real Madrid: Casilla; Carvajal; Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo; James, Modric, Casemiro; Lucas Vazquez, Benzema, Asensio

Subs: Yanez, Danilo, Varane, Kroos, Kovacic, Isco, Morata

Referee: Hernandez Hernandez

La Liga - Club News