Real Madrid and Colombia set to battle for James Rodriguez

Rodriguez returned to training on Wednesday after a spell on the sidelines through injury

James Rodriguez is set to return from a long-term injury which has kept him out of the game for about 50 days, ESPN reports. He returned to training with Los Blancos on Wednesday, but the news might not be as happy as it seems.

Rodriguez is expected to receive a call-up from Colombia as well. Notably, when the gifted midfielder last played for his country, he suffered an injury which has kept him out of the game up until now. This situation has brought a bit of a dilemma for Real Madrid as they cannot afford another injury to the player, with El Clasico just round the corner.

Jose Pekerman, Colombia’s coach, is expected to call the star for Colombia’s two toughest tests in the World Cup 2018 qualifiers, as they play against Chile on November 13 and then Argentina four days later.

International breaks have always been a strenuous time for club managers. They have always despised the pause which comes every two months or so and disrupts the flow of their respective leagues. Clubs groom their players gradually over the length of the season, and if the player comes back injured from national duty, these teams are bound to get frustrated.

Same was the case with the 24-years old, as he got injured playing in a friendly for Colombia against Peru, on September 8 and has not donned the whites of Real Madrid since.

According to Marca, the ten time Champions League winners want to pressurize the Colombia football federation to allow the player to stay with the club. Rodriguez is expected to return to Madrid, if he gets an international call-up, on November 19, merely 48 hours before El Clasico kicks off.

Till the Colombian returns from international duty, Benitez will keep his fingers crossed.

Real handed boost ahead of El Clasico

Los Blancos were handed an injury boost on Wednesday, when four of their injured players, Karim Benzema, Pepe, James and Arbeloa returned to training.

A statement on club's website read, “After winning in Vigo, the La Liga leaders are now preparing for Saturday's match against UD Las Palmas. The big news of the day was that James, Pepe, Benzema and Arbeloa were all present on the training pitch. The first two focused on ball work by themselves on training pitch 3.”

“Meanwhile, the French striker finished out the first half of the session with the rest of the group and then carried out a number of ball work exercises with Arbeloa, who had been jogging by himself beforehand."