"Bale and Benzema are very important, but there are no excuses"

Real Madrid come into the Super Cup without Bale and Benzema. Raphäel Varane spoke at a press conference about their absences, who did not want to use them as excuses and assured that Los Blancos are well prepared.

"We know how talented they are, but we are Madrid. We have a very good squad, we have everyone. The manager will choose, but we are prepared to compete, fight and give everything to win. They are very important, but there are no excuses in football.

In the same way, he understands that the names are not relevant for goals: "In attack, we know that there are things to improve on, but there is a lot of talent in this team. We play well, then whoever scores the goals doesn't matter much to us, we prepare ourselves and the goals come when we're confident".

"The match is different because of the context and because a European trophy is near. We started this competition with a lot of enthusiasm, we know what is at stake and what it takes to get to this competition. We're focused on this game because we want to compete and start the year well," Varane continued about the match against Valencia.

He also spoke about the format: "It doesn't matter what I like most. We have to adapt and compete. When there is a trophy at stake we are very excited. It's a bit different to what we know, but we are professionals and we adapt to what we have to do".

As for the individual, Varane said he feels good: "I've been able to do a complete physical preparation since the beginning of the season. I'm in a good moment, I work every day to keep it up and help my team-mates".