Champions League R16: No place for Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez in Zidane's Real Madrid squad for Man City tie

Head coach Zinedine Zidane sent yet another strong signal to Gareth Bale by leaving him out of Real Madrid's 24-man squad for the return leg against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League.

Not only Bale but creative midfielder James Rodriguez has also be left out of the traveling squad.

Going into the 2nd leg of the round of 16 tie, the Los Blancos side will be hoping to overturn the 2-1 deficit from the first leg in Santiago Bernabeu Stadium before the competition was called off for some time due to the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe.

Throughout the 2019-20 season, Bale has played just two of Madrid's 11 matches in the La Liga after the league competition had resumed post-lockdown.

The multiple time Wales footballer of the year has been a bench warmer in Zidane's side for a long time now and was an unused substitute during Real's final seven matches of the domestic campaign.

Youngers such as Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo have moved ahead of him in the pecking order making Gareth and James surplus to requirements for the French manager.

Real Madrid will also be without their record signing Eden Hazard, who has failed to recover from his injury ahead of the R16 2nd leg clash against the Citizens.

Full squad:

Goalkeepers: Courtois, Areola and Altube.

Defenders: Carvajal, Militao, Varane, Nacho, Marcelo, Mendy and Javi Hernandez.

Midfielders: Kroos, Modric, Casemiro, Valverde and Isco.

Forwards: Hazard, Benzema, Lucas Vazquez, Jovic, Asensio, Brahim, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo.