OFFICIAL: James not available against Las Palmas

James Rodríguez will not be able to feature against Las Palmas this weekend, according to Rafa Benítez himself. The Spanish manager was interviewed on Radio Nacional España and confirmed the news.

"He will not play. All things considered maybe he will be able to play some minutes against PSG next week, but we don't know that for sure yet. If Colombia decide to call him up, we will let him go but he must come back healthy," said the manager.

James has been out since he picked up a muscle injury more than a month ago. The Colombian is a very important player for his country but he must understand that Real Madrid should be his top priority right now given the time he's missed for the club recently.

The playmaker will be recovered from his injury soon enough and will be able to play in El Clásico barring any setbacks.