Real Madrid: Luka Jovic and Gareth Bale miss Wednesday’s training with bizarre illness

Real Madrid was down two players from the normal training squad on Wednesday as preparations for the match with Levante continued. Luka Jovic and Gareth Bale were both sent home due to illness calling into question their status for this weekend’s La Liga tie.

Now is not the time to be losing players to random illnesses! Today, Real Madrid was forced to send two forwards home due to gastroenteritis. Because of the chance of spreading the intestinal infection to their teammates, as a precaution, Jovic and Bale were sent home for the day.

The good news is that the disease is fast-acting and usually makes its way through someone’s system between one and three days. Therefore, the two should not and are not being ruled out for the trip to Valencia on Saturday.

While it is inconvenient to be without so many forwards – Bale, Jovic, Brahim Diaz, Marco Asensio, and Mariano were all missing from the session – the team still has two days of preparation remaining and will be very near 100 percent come kickoff.

If there is any doubt Bale is not fit for the match, I think it would be a good time to bring in either Lucas Vazquez or install Rodrygo back into the gameplan.

The Brazilian has somewhat disappeared in recent weeks and has seen his role reduced due to the return of Eden Hazard and the fantastic form of Vinicius Junior.

Don’t forget that Rodrygo was stunning in the Champions League group stage and has adapted to life in Spain expertly in just a few months time, so, Zidane and his staff should make sure he still gets meaningful minutes.

This seems to me like a great match for Jovic to start so Karim Benzema can be fully prepared for next Wednesday and Man City. As of late, The Big Benz has struggled to find the back of the net and he will be vital in seeing Los Blancos through to the quarterfinals.

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