Varane, Mariano miss training session, questionable for match against Girona

Raphael Varane and Mariano Diaz missed Real Madrid’s training session this Friday and are questionable for Sunday’s home match against Girona. Varane is still recovering from the flu, which already kept him out of Wednesday’s game in Amsterdam, while Mariano appears to have yet another physical issue even though he only played nine minutes against Ajax.

Mariano’s absence is very significant for coach Santiago Solari, who was reportedly hoping to give striker Karim Benzema some rest after what has been a very busy month for Real Madrid and for the French attacker as well, given that he’s played most of the minutes available at a high level. Same goes for Sergio Ramos, who could also use some time to rest after some very intense matches against Atletico, Barcelona and Sevilla.

However, if neither Varane nor Mariano can recover in time, Solari will either need to trust some Castilla players or start his two veteran leaders in what should be a manageable home game for Madrid.