Raphael Varane and Pepe fit for Atletico Madrid as Zidane coy on two potential Real Madrid signings

Raphael Varane and Pepe have been passed fit to face Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night (10 May) but Zinedine Zidane refused to confirm whether the two Real Madrid centre-backs will make his squad. Meanwhile, the French boss was coy about recent reports claiming that Los Blancos are set to beat Barcelona for the signings of Theo Hernandez and Brazilian wonderkid Vinicius de Oliveira Junior.

Los Blancos are one of the big favourites to go through to the Champions League final after a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo helped them to secure a 3-0 advantage in the first leg played at the Santiago Bernabeu last week.

Varane played the full 90 minutes of that encounter but was left out of the Real Madrid squad for the following weekend 4-0 victory over Granada due to a muscle injury.

Meanwhile, Pepe missed both games as he has been out of action since breaking his ribs during the La Liga 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid on 8 April.

Zidane has confirmed that both players are in contention to face Atletico on Wednesday but refused to confirm who will form his back-line to stop Antoine Griezmann and co.

Yet, Dani Carvajal is definitely ruled out and the Real Madrid boss has to decide whether to cover the absence of the right-back with Danilo or Nacho. In case he opts for the Brazilian, Nacho could continue as a centre-back but if Nacho is the one chosen to replace Caravajal, Varane or Pepe will return to the heart of the defence to partner Sergio Ramos.

"Nacho is a centre-back but he can play in any position in the defence and he's done phenomenally well," Zidane said when asked about his plans in the press conference ahead of the game. "Pepe is fine, we'll see what the squad is, and Varane has also trained without any problems. We're all ready except the players you know about (Carvajal and Gareth Bale)".

The preview of the Champions League derby has been overshadowed by reports in Spain claiming that Real Madrid are ready to make a shock move to sign left-back Theo from their Madrid neighbours ahead of the 2017-2018 campaign.

It has been reported that Atletico tried to convince the player to move to Barcelona instead but on Monday morning it emerged that current Alaves loanees underwent a medical with Real Madrid ahead of completing a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Asked whether he understands that Atletico fans will arrive at the game especially upset following such a controversial signing, Zidane just said: "The signings will be seen later, it's not the time to talk about things like that. I'm only thinking about tomorrow's game. What happens among the fans is between them. We're not going to be able to fix it. They're things between them and I'll not comment on it."

Reports in Brazil have claimed that Los Blancos are also set to beat Barcelona for the signing of 16-year-old teenager Vinicius after having launched a stunning €45m (£38m, $49m) offer to lure him away from Flamengo ahead of the summer of 2018 – once he turns 18.

Zidane admitted that he was aware of those reports but was also coy when asked about his personal opinion of the player.

Asked whether he knows Vinicius, he said: "Who? I don't know him personally but I know that people are talking about him. I'm only thinking about tomorrow's game."

In this sense, Zidane urged his Real Madrid players not to take anything for granted despite the good records they have had against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

"We're wrong if we think we'll go through just because we've won two finals," the Real Madrid boss added.

"We'll try to go into the game as we have been doing so far. You have to go out on to the field, try to play and do your best to win the game. Our idea doesn't change and our way of playing is always to give our best. The message to the players is to continue on the path that we're on and give everything out on the field. We're not going to change the way we play.

"Whatever happens, we have to turn up and perform. We won two finals but that's in the past. Tomorrow we're playing a different game. Everyone has their strengths and we're going to show what we're doing. Having won two finals doesn't mean that we're going to win. If we think like that, we're wrong."