Benzema and Varane out with a fever; Nacho and Isco start

Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane appear to be out of tomorrow’s match against Levante in the Ciutat de Valencia stadium. Carlo Ancelotti, in his press conference, confirmed that both French players are running fevers.

The Italian coach revealed he would play Nacho in place of Varane alongside Pepe in the middle of defence (Ramos is still out with a calf injury), while he hadn’t made his mind up how to replace Benzema. One option would be Mexican Chicharito. The other would be to remodel the midfield, introducing another attacking midfielder or strengthening the backbone and playing Cristiano and Bale in attack.

Ancelotti did confirm that Isco would start. This could be his plan for the midfield, with the player from the south coast playing alongside Kroos, Modric and James, or possibly doing without James (recovering from his trip back from international duty) and playing Chicharito.

Another option would be Khedira in midfield, but it appears that would be too soon, with the Ancelotti pointing out he’s not played for 40 days and is out of competitive form.

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://as.com/diarioas/2014/10/17/english/1413560885_659344.html

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