No Marcelo or Ramos for Madrid

Sergio Ramos and Marcelo have been left out of the Real Madrid squad for Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Both absences were expected – particularly Marcelo’s with the club releasing a statement explaining the Brazil full-back has an adductor muscle problem sustained in Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing by Barcelona in El Clasico.

The situation surrounding Ramos is less clear.

The Spain defender dislocated his shoulder in the reverse fixture against Shakhtar last month and aggravated the joint again in the act of scoring in the 3-2 defeat at Sevilla on November 8.

He managed to start against Barca but looked hopelessly short of match sharpness as the likes of Luis Suarez, Neymar and Andres Iniesta repeatedly tore through the Madrid backline.

There have been suggestions in Spain that Ramos will not play again prior to the winter break in a bid to give the injury time to heal properly.

He will certainly miss the trip to Ukraine, although it could be a precautionary move with Rafael Benitez’s men having already secured a place in the knockout stages.

Real Madrid squad in full: Keylor Navas, Kiko Casilla, Ruben Yanez; Raphael Varane, Pepe, Nacho, Dani Carvajal, Danilo; Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale, Casemiro, Mateo Kovacic, Luka, Modric, Denis Cheryshev, Isco; Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Lucas Vazquez, Jese.