CONFIRMED lineups: Espanyol vs Real Madrid, 2016 La Liga

Zinedine Zidane has decided to keep Toni Kroos on the bench, starting James Rodríguez in the midfield alongside Luka Modric and Casemiro.

Real Madrid Starting XI: Casilla, Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Casemiro, James, Modric, Vazquez, Asensio, Benzema.

Espanyol Starting XI: Diego López; Javi López, David López, Oscar Duarte, V. Sánchez, Hernán Pérez, Diop, Marc Roca, Piatti, Baptistao, Gerard Moreno

Lucas Vázquez will replace Gareth Bale while Marco Asensio returns to the starting lineup in Ronaldo's absence.

It's quite surprising to see Karim Benzema starting upfront after Morata's game-winning goal after Sporting Portugal. Benzema showed a lot of rust in that game while Morata's determination clearly helped Madrid. However, Zidane explained during the pre-match press conference that he will use the BBC every time they're ready.

"If I have Cristiano Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema at 100% the idea is that they play together, but that doesn't mean that the three of them will always play. If they are at 100% for a game then they will play, but as we have a lot of games to play and the players down the pecking order do well, I have to give them a chance," he said.

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Real Madrid will try to keep their three-point advantage to Barcelona with a win.