Real Madrid vs Las Palmas; Spanish La Liga
Real Madrid vs Las Palmas. Spanish La Liga.
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Real Madrid v Las Palmas: Zinedine Zidane still without Gareth Bale
Sunday 5 November 2017 19:01, UK
Real Madrid must again do without Gareth Bale as they look to end a miserable week on a positive note against Las Palmas, live on Sky Sports Football.
Bale has been sidelined since September 26 with a calf problem but though he has returned to training, Sunday's clash against the La Liga strugglers comes too soon.
Dani Carvajal was ruled out indefinitely in September with a heart condition but though he has stepped up his recovery, the right-back will not be involved.
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Zidane told a press conference: "We're happy because they have both returned to training with the group.
"Dani is fine, normal, and Gareth as well. We're happy to see them back with us, but they are not going to be in the squad."
The reigning Spanish and European champions are also missing midfielder Mateo Kovacic as they attempt to respond to humbling defeats to Girona and Tottenham.
It is only the second time under Zidane that Madrid have suffered back-to-back losses, but the Frenchman is determined to weather the storm with calm.
He said: "We need to think positively. It's not going to change anything about what we want to achieve this season.
"This is football and sometimes you have bad spells. It's nothing new, it happened to us last year and we achieved important things at the end of the season.
"We can play better, but I don't think our problem is playing badly."
Madrid, on paper, could hardly have picked a better opponent against whom to try and get back on track against than Las Palmas.
The Canary Islanders have slumped into the bottom three after suffering six successive league defeats, while they have not beaten Madrid in 16 years.
However, they did hold Zidane's men to two draws last season - including a 3-3 thriller at the Bernabeu when a Cristiano Ronaldo double in the final four minutes saved the hosts - and Las Palmas coach Pako Ayestaran is hoping to add to Madrid's current headaches on Sunday.
When asked about Madrid's poor form, he said: "There are times when you can benefit because they have more doubts.
"If we're able to keep it goalless for longer then they could become anxious, but Real Madrid always recover and sometimes it's more difficult to face them [in this situation]. You never know."
