Real Madrid: James Rodriguez doesn’t make squad at Athletic Bilbao

Real Madrid won’t have James Rodriguez against Athletic Bilbao either.

Raphael Varane and Eden Hazard were known absences heading into Real Madrid’s huge game against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday at San Mames. Hazard missed the Getafe game as a precaution for his ankle, and Zinedine Zidane didn’t want to risk him against the physical Bilbao either. As for Varane, he took a blow to the head against Getafe, and Real are wisely playing it safe with the world-class center back.

But aside from those two stars, there’s another big name not in the 23-man squad for Real Madrid against Athletic Club. That player is attacking midfielder James Rodriguez, who continues to see his stock fall under Zidane.

Below is the full squad, which includes Brahim Diaz and Javi Hernandez. There are nine attacking players in the squad but just five midfielders with James out.

Zidane recently said that he understands James’ anger at being left out of the lineup, and leaving him out of the squad for such a big match with Hazard already out is unlikely to make the Colombian feel any less frustrated. And there are Madridistas who want to see James receive more chances to shine before he likely leaves this summer due to an expiring contract.

James Rodriguez last played against Real Sociedad, as he was a surprise starter who received 78 minutes of action. It’s the only time the attacking midfielder has played since the restart. He played on the right side of the formation, doing little in an attacking sense but providing plenty of hard work defensively. James has tried his best to impress Zidane by working hard on that end of the pitch, and, per WhoScored.com, he had five tackles against La Real. The last time he played in La Liga before Sociedad was in October in the loss to Mallorca.

Once again, James is on the outside looking in for Real Madrid, and it was a genuine surprise to see him off the 23-man squad entirely. The end of the line is near for James at Real.