Rafa Benitez confirms Keylor Navas and Sergio Ramos will both miss Real Madrid’s visit of Las Palmas on Saturday but is “optimistic” about James Rodriguez.
Speaking at a Press conference on Friday, the Coach corroborated reports of the goalkeeper’s muscle strain and exuded confidence when quizzed on the midfielder’s return, although he conceded he was powerless to stop him from representing Colombia next week.
“Our priority is doing the best for Real Madrid and we won’t risk any strains,” he said at a Press conference.
“That goes for Keylor [Navas] and Sergio Ramos, plus James [Rodriguez], [Karim] Benzema and anyone else who could be forced back.
“All our internationals, as regulated by FIFA, should go with their national teams if they’re fit enough to do so.
“We can’t avoid that, but what we want is that they play for their club and country in their best condition.
“That the player will go or not doesn’t depend on us. What we want is for our players to be in the best possible shape to perform for Madrid and their national team, should they see fit.
“I can’t force a Coach [not to play a certain player], but I can tell him the how the player is doing.
“We want [James] to be fit and score many goals for Real Madrid and Colombia.
“He’s increasing his load and involvement [in training], and that’s the progression we want him to pursue.
“He’s feeling good, and we hope he continues improving. We’ll see on Monday if he can play against PSG, but I’m optimistic.
“Karim’s doing well, but we want him to recover 100 percent first.
“He won’t play or be thrown into a match even if he still has a little way to go.
“I don’t want to risk him yet, but he’ll be one of the lads who engage in full sessions next week.
“We have an idea [on Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal’s return], but you can’t have a full squad 100 percent of the time.
“You seem to find that things are going well and then suddenly you develop injuries.
“Our idea is that many of these players will be doing regular sessions next week.
“All our players who more or less have problems have their own programmes and dates for recovery.
“The information I have is that their [recoveries] are all in line with our expectations.
“We don’t want to rush them back but instead make sure they return in perfect condition. It makes no sense to force the issue.”
