Real Madrid Wait Nervously on Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema Fitness

Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema injuries during a dead-rubber fixture on La Liga's final day was not how Real Madrid envisaged their domestic campaign ending.

The two forward players, if added to the injured Jese and suspended Xabi Alonso, would represent a significant quartet unavailable to Carlo Ancelotti for next Saturday's Champions League final.

Their opponents, Atletico Madrid, may also be hampered by injuries.

Against Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the La Liga title decider, Atletico had to substitute two key men.

Striker Diego Costa and creative midfielder Arda Turan were booed by Barcelona fans as they went down, but it soon became clear that both were not time-wasting and were actually hurt.

But Atletico showed great spirit to fight back and earn a draw against Barcelona, which was enough for them to win the title.

Even if they are missing those two men against Real Madrid, they have shown that they are still dangerous.

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

Which means that Real will be anxiously waiting to hear whether Ronaldo and Benzema are going to be fully fit to play in Lisbon.

The Portugal striker, Madrid's key man for the past five years, was due to start the game but felt discomfort during the warm-up.

Ancelotti and the medical team decided to replace him in the starting line-up with Isco, taking no chances ahead of the big Champions League showdown.

You get the feeling that even if Ronaldo is not 100 percent fit, then he will be played in the final.

This is what happened in the semi-final first leg at the Bernabeu against Bayern Munich, when Ronaldo was moving badly. He played for a while, missing a great opportunity, before being replaced by Gareth Bale.

Karim Benzema would be a huge miss too, should the problem he sustained during the 3-1 win over Espanyol keep him out.

The striker has gone from strength to strength under Ancelotti, scoring goals and producing good link-play too.

Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press

Alvaro Morata, who came on as a substitute and scored twice against Javier Aguirre's side, would not pose much danger to Miranda and Diego Godin, an accomplished centre-back pairing.

After the victory, which was not one of Real Madrid's finest performances and saw the side whistled at one point, Ancelotti also said that his players' fitness was the primary concern ahead of the Champions League final.

He said, per Real Madrid's official site:

"

Cristiano wasn't comfortable before the game. Yesterday he trained well and was confident. We didn't risk him; he has had a test and it looks like a minor spasm. We're relaxed because he has time to recover and play in the final. He hasn't played in the last few matches. It wasn't a risk because he trained normally yesterday and was full of confidence.

When the medical test doesn't show anything, the player's own judgment is very important. He was comfortable and happy yesterday. He wanted to play. He wasn't right in the warm up and we decided to not use him in this match to avoid risking anything. The problem is that when you have a final coming up you can't take risks. If it had been our last match of the season, he would have played. With such an important final coming up we didn't need to take any risks. Cristiano is very sincere.

Benzema suffered a minor abductor contracture when he passed the ball to Bale. I don't think he will have any problems to play the final.

"