Cristiano Ronaldo rested for Real Madrid trip to Fuenlabrada as Gareth Bale remains on the sidelines

Cristiano Ronaldo is among the nine Real Madrid first-team players rested by Zinedine Zidane for the trip to Fuenlabrada on Thursday (26 October), with the France boss expected to make wholesale changes for the first leg of the Copa del Rey last-32.

Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Marcelo, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric, Isco and Karim Benzema have also been left at home ahead of a busy week which will see Los Blancos visiting Girona on Sunday before travelling to London to face Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday 1 November.

Meanwhile, Gareth Bale, Dani Carvajal, Keylor Navas, Mateo Kovacic and third keeper Luca Zidane will also miss the Copa del Rey encounter at the Fernando Torres Stadium due to different fitness issues.

Zidane provided a positive update on the recovery of Bale and Carvajal but refused to confirm whether any of them will be back in time to face Tottenham next week.

"Dani is doing well. He's undergone tests and they're positive. Today he's started to ride a bike and now his recovery will take time, but he's healthy and I'm happy about that. He'll have to go through the recovery process so let's see," the Real Madrid boss said when asked about Carvajal's illness.

"Bale is already on the field, almost ready to train with the team, but I can't give you a date for when he'll be back."

The Real Madrid boss is expected to give some youngsters a chance to prove themselves at Fuenlabrada after six players from the second team [Moha, Tejero, Quezada, Manu Hernando, Feuillassier and Cristo] were included in his 16-man squad.

Zidane has won two Champions League crowns and one La Liga title since taking over from Rafael Benitez in January 2016. However, the French boss is yet to have the same success in the Copa del Rey with Barcelona having successively won the title in the last three campaigns.

The Real Madrid boss backed his side to lead him to the glory this season, starting with a victory at Fuenlabrada on Thursday night. "I have no problem with the cups, but I've never won one, that's true. I played finals in Spain and Italy and I didn't win. This year might be the year, why not?" he added.

"Winning the cup isn't something personal, it's a team thing. We're excited to play in it, as we like to play in every competition. I don't consider it a minor trophy, for me it's one of the trophies that we can win and that's our intention. Our ambition is to win it because we can. We want to give everything and put in a good performance tomorrow. That's it. When you wear this club's shirt, you're going out to win every game, official matches and friendlies."