Madrid end the week without Benzema or Mendy, Vinicius to return on Monday

Madrid ended the week of no fixtures due to the international break with two of their stars still injured. Carlo Ancelotti still awaits the recoveries of the Frenchman Karim Benzema and Ferland Mendy from their respective muscle injuries.

'Los Blancos' finished their week of training with just 12 first team players present. From the start of next week, players who went on international duty will begin returning to Madrid.

The first to come back will be the Brazilian, Vinicius. He scored against Chile at the Maracana but received a yellow card and is therefore suspended for Brazil's next match. He will be free to leave his home country and can return to Madrid training sooner than expected, in order to begin preparations to bounce back from the 'Clasico' defeat against Celta. 

The other absentees on international duty are Carvajal, Alaba, Valverde, Militao, Casemiro, Rodrygo, Camavinga, Modric, Jovic and Bale. Ancelotti has taken advantage of their absences and focused on boosting the present squad players' fitness during the week's training sessions.

The reduced group of first team players spent their Friday morning session completing conditioning exercises. According to the official website, the group then focused on possession and control work, finishing and small sided games.

Benzema and Mendy did not step foot on the pitch as they continue to focus on recovering from their muscle injuries in the training centre at Real Madrid City. According to the club, neither of the two players will be in doubt for the Celta match and it is hoped that they will return to full training at the start of next week.