Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane will not risk playing Karim Benzema against Atalanta if the striker is not fully fit.
Benzema missed Madrid's narrow 1-0 win over Real Valladolid in LaLiga on Saturday due to an unspecified knock.
Los Blancos struggled in the absence of their leading scorer as they managed just two shots on target at Estadio Jose Zorrilla.
However, Zidane will only name Benzema in his travelling party for Wednesday's Champions League last-16 first leg with Atalanta if he can first prove his fitness.
"We will see tomorrow," Zidane said. "I can't tell you right now. We are not going to risk him. If he's not ready, he won't be used."
Benzema was one of nine first-team players missing for Madrid against Valladolid, with the likes of Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal and Eden Hazard also nursing injuries.
But Zidane is unsure how many – if any – of his walking wounded have any chance of returning for the trip to Bergamo.
"The situation is what it is," he said. "There are many casualties. I hope to recover players, but I don't know if that will be next week.
"At the moment there are many casualties, but the players we have are committed and we have to continue with them. It's complicated, but you have to continue."
Despite the growing list of injuries, Madrid beat Valladolid thanks to Casemiro's second-half header to make it four LaLiga wins in a row, the last three of those victories without conceding.
Madrid are now within three points of leaders Atletico Madrid, who have dropped points in three of their last four matches but still have a game in hand to play.
Zidane's men travel to the Wanda Metropolitano on March 7 and the Frenchman wants his side to keep putting points on the board before then.
"There is no need to send a message. It is an important victory. It is the fourth victory and we have to continue our business," he said.
"You have to be happy with the game, with the result and with the clean sheet.
"We are in a good moment and have found some consistency with our results. The whole team defends very well. With the ball we can do things.
"We arrived well and we have to rest well. We are going to prepare for the game on Wednesday in the best possible way."
Casemiro had missed two glorious headed chances before finding the back of the net with his third, which came via a superb Toni Kroos delivery from deep.
Kroos created four big opportunities in total and had both the most touches (83) and completed more passes (73) than any other player on the field.
Match-winner Casemiro was keen to share the plaudits with his team-mate, who now has five assists in his last five appearances.
"You have to be there to finish it off. But the credit goes to Toni, who always puts them well," he told Movistar. "I had three chances and I had to put away the third one.
"We still believe in the LaLiga title. All games are important. There are 42 points left. There are many points left and we believe in ourselves."
Casemiro's headed goal was his fourth of the LaLiga season - more than any other midfielder in Europe's top five leagues.
However, Madrid may well have been on the end of a shock defeat if not for Thibaut Courtois, the Belgium international making three big saves with the game still all square.
"We know that we are all important," Casemiro said. "Courtois with the stops - I'm not surprised, he always does that.
"It's was a good goal for me to score. But we cannot speak of a single player today. This victory belongs to everyone."
Marco Silva hails ‘quality’ of Chelsea duo Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez
Fulham boss Marco Silva talked up “quality” Chelsea midfield pair Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez ahead of the west London derby at Craven Cottage.
Chelsea broke the British transfer record twice this year, signing Fernandez from Benfica for a reported £106.8million in January before beating Liverpool to confirm the transfer of Caicedo from Brighton for £115m in August.
Silva spoke on how the pair’s price-tags reflect their ability and expects them to bring the fight to Harrison Reed and Joao Palhinha on Monday.
“Enzo joined in January and Caicedo in the summer as well,” Silva said. “They’re quality. We are talking about two players they almost spent £250 million on.
“This speaks about the quality and about how much they wanted them in their squad.
“Plus (Conor) Gallagher in the midfield, they have the quality, the energy, they have the organisation to create a very good fight with our midfield line and I think it will be a very good fight because they have that quality.”
Alex Iwobi’s second-half strike during Wednesday’s Carabao Cup third round 2-1 victory over Norwich was his first Fulham goal since his reported £22million move from Everton on deadline day.
Silva, who also signed Iwobi as Everton manager in 2019, spoke on the Nigeria international’s versatility and what he offers to his squad.
“It was very good (Iwobi’s performance against Norwich),” Silva added.
“He’s a player I know really well, he knows the Premier League so well and he’s mature. He has the quality, can play in many different positions and is a player that will give us the quality that we need in certain parts of the game.
“He provides that extra energy as well. It was good for him to score on his first game in a Fulham shirt and I want to see more of him.
“He’s going to be a really important player for us and I am pleased for him for starting his first game.”
From Chelsea’s starting XI during their 2-1 loss at Fulham in January, Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah are the only remaining players at the club.
Silva said: “They are different and we are different as well. I think the game is going to be completely different. We can have a look for some things, but it will be different. They have a different manager.”
Sheffield Wednesday hit a new low as Sunderland ease to victory at Hillsborough
Sheffield Wednesday have now made the joint-worst start after nine games in Championship history after Sunderland beat them 3-0 at Hillsborough on Friday night.
A Dan Ballard header and two Jack Clarke goals, one a penalty, had the Black Cats in cruise control before half-time.
Wednesday are a club in disarray off the field, with chairman Dejphon Chansiri releasing a statement earlier in the day stating he would be putting no additional money into the club.
Owls boss Xisco Munoz made two changes to the team that lost 3-0 at Swansea, with George Byers and Callum Paterson joining the starting XI.
Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray made just the one switch after the 1-0 defeat at home to Cardiff, with Patrick Roberts coming in for Abdoullah Ba.
The first two chances of the game brought goals for the away side.
First, Ballard rose highest to meet Alex Pritchard’s corner after five minutes and just three minutes later Sunderland doubled their advantage when Clarke drove towards goal from the left and arrowed a beauty into the bottom corner.
On-loan Wednesday man John Buckley had a go from outside the box but his effort was put past the post by goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, then Anthony Musaba chanced his arm moments later but saw his curling attempt fly over the bar.
The third goal came in the 31st minute after Bambo Diaby brought down Mason Burstow in the box. Clarke stepped up to send Devis Vasquez the wrong way – it was the Championship top scorer’s second of the night and seventh of the season, six of them coming away from the Stadium of Light.
Home fans who had not already headed for the exits chanted for both manager and chairman to leave the club.
In the second half, Pol Valentin made a mazy run down the right-hand side and his cross found Paterson, who saw his shot saved by keeper Patterson.
Jobe Bellingham nearly made it four but his effort from distance went just wide.
Despite bringing on forwards Ashley Fletcher and Djeidi Gassama in the closing stages, Sunderland comfortably dealt with the majority of Wednesday’s attacks for the remainder of the game, having done the damage in the first 30 minutes.
The result lifts the Wearsiders to fourth ahead of Saturday’s fixtures, while Wednesday remain bottom, with just two points from their opening nine games.
Five-star Hamilton too hot for Annan
Hamilton thumped Annan 5-0 to continue their push for an immediate return to the Scottish Championship.
Accies have now won seven of their eight League One matches and needed only two minutes to make the breakthrough here, Jamie Barjonas running on from midfield and firing in a shot from the edge of the box.
It took until three minutes into the second half for Hamilton to score their second, Reghan Tumilty netting from a corner, and 10 minutes later Euan Henderson smashed in a third.
It was all too easy for the hosts, and they scored twice more through Connor Murray and Joe McGlynn, while Michael Hewitt was denied a sixth by the post.
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