Sunday 2 November 2014 13:46, UK
Real Madrid's Gareth Bale remains doubtful for Tuesday's Champions League visit of Liverpool after being ruled out of the weekend clash with Granada.
The Wales international has missed Real’s last three games, including the win over Liverpool at Anfield and last weekend’s El Clasico victory over Barcelona.
Reports in Spain suggested he would be cleared to return for the La Liga trip to Granada on Saturday, but coach Carlo Ancelotti revealed that Bale, Fabio Coentrao and Jese Rodriguez are still sidelined.
"The injured players are the same: Bale, Coentrao and Jese,” said Ancelotti, who also has injury concerns over Pepe and Luka Modric.
"We have two little problems that we must evaluate regarding Pepe and Modric. We must wait for training this afternoon to decide our starting line-up."
But Cristiano Ronaldo will return after being rested for Wednesday’s Copa del Rey win over Cornella, while Raphael Varane stands by to deputise for Pepe.
Wales boss Chris Coleman will be monitoring the status of Bale very closely as he prepares his squad for the European qualifier against Belgium.
Coleman’s side take on the World Cup quarter-finalists in Brussels on November 16, and assistant boss Osian Roberts is confident that Bale will be available.
"Hopefully he'll be playing very soon now, he just has a small injury,” Roberts said. Having Gareth coming back to fitness will be a huge boost for us.
"We're delighted with the relationship that we've got with Carlo Ancelotti and his medical staff.
"The communication is excellent and we knew virtually the minute that he picked up the injury - our medical team was in contact with theirs.”
