Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos is fit and back for the club’s La Liga title run-in as well as their Champions League semi-final second leg with Chelsea next Wednesday, coach Zinedine Zidane said.
After missing the last nine games in all competitions through injury, Ramos returned to full training on Friday and is available for selection for Saturday’s La Liga meeting with Osasuna.
“He’s training with us and that means he’s able to play too,” Zidane told a news conference.
“We’ll see what we do when we name the squad, but Sergio is fit and ready to play.”
La Liga appears set for closest title run-in in recent years as just three points separate the top four — Atletico Madrid, Real, Barcelona and Sevilla.
Defending champions Real sit second on 71 points, two off leaders Atletico, with five games remaining.
“La Liga is always such a tough competition and it’ll be that way until the end,” said Zidane.
“We want to win this league title, we know it’ll be difficult but we’re going to give everything to do so until the end of the season.
“There’s obviously been a lot of games, players have had problems, but in a seasons all sorts of things happen. The important thing is that we’re ready to go out there and compete.”
Zidane confirmed that fullback Ferland Mendy and midfielder Federico Valverde will both miss the visit of Osasuna, as will long-term absentees Lucas Vazquez and Dani Carvajal.
The Frenchman also said that defender Marcelo will be available for Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg with Chelsea, despite being called up to work at a polling station for Monday’s regional elections in Madrid.
(Reporting by Joseph Walker, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
