Real Madrid vs Villarreal: Gareth Bale out for La Liga clash but could return for Manchester City

Zinedine Zidane has confirmed both Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal will miss Real Madrid's home encounter with Villarreal on Wednesday night (20 April) due to injuries. The Frenchman revealed the Welsh star has suffered a muscular strain, but still hopes to have him available for the Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester City next week.

Carvajal and Bale both started the 5-1 victory over Getafe at the weekend before being replaced early in the second half by Nacho and Lucas Vazquez, respectively. Both Real Madrid players helped their side move to within one point of La Liga leaders Barcelona with their seventh consecutive league victory, and the Welshman hit his 16th goal of the season in the process.

However, the pair missed Tuesday's training session and Zidane has now confirmed they will not feature in the crucial visit of a Villarreal side that already beat them 1-0 earlier in the season.

The absences are a major blow for Real Madrid, as the club look like needing five wins in five games to keep alive their hopes of winning the title.

"He (Bale) picked it up after the Getafe game. He'll not be involved as he's got an overload but we hope it's only that. It's a little pain that he's got behind the leg but I'm not a doctor. He'll not be with us tomorrow but I hope he'll be back for the next game," Zidane said in his pre-match press conference .

Following the game with Villarreal, Los Blancos will visit Rayo Vallecano on weekend before the crucial trip to Manchester for the Champions League encounter with City.

Asked about Caravajal, Zidane added: "We're going to monitor it every day. He's got some discomfort, he's got a bruise. He'll not be available tomorrow. We're going to take it a day at a time and we'll see for the next game."

Summer signing Danilo is expected to cover the absence of Carvajal in the right-back slot while academy star Lucas Vazque or Jese Rodriguez could step in for Bale in the left-side of attack.