James Rodriguez is set to hand Real Madrid a boost by returning from injury for his team’s home meeting with Granada tomorrow.
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The Colombia midfielder has been out of action since suffering a broken bone in his foot in a 2-1 victory over Sevilla two months ago, bringing a pause to his promising opening season at the Bernabeu.
The World Cup Golden Boot winner has scored eight goals and been credited with seven assists in his 20 league outings for Los Blancos, and his return will be a timely lift as Carlo Ancelotti’s men seek to get their season back on track following a Clasico defeat to Barcelona before the international break.
Ancelotti is believed to be considering the option of bringing James straight back into his starting XI for a game which is must-win for the hosts after they have dropped four points off La Liga’s top spot with a run of just three wins in seven games during his absence.
Messi given the all-clear
Leaders Barcelona have also been given welcome news with star man Lionel Messi recovering well from a foot injury ahead of tomorrow’s testing trip to Celta Vigo.
The Argentine missed his country’s friendlies against El Salvador and Ecuador this week and was thought to be a major doubt for this weekend after national team boss Tata Martino admitted his captain was in a lot of pain and struggling to even put on his boot.
But Messi has responded well to treatment since returning to Barcelona and trained with relative comfort both Thursday and yesterday.
He sustained the injury in the second leg of Barca’s Champions League victory over Manchester City in a challenge with compatriot Martin Demichelis.
Although he played on through the pain and also completed the full 90 minutes of his team’s 2-1 Clasico win over Madrid four days later, the injury appeared to worsen ahead of Argentina’s international encounters in the United States and he was unusually rested for those games.
But Messi now appears likely to start tomorrow as Barca seek to avenge a 1-0 home loss against Celta in November.