Real Madrid Fans Vote Against 'BBC' Starting Champions League Tie vs. Napoli

Real Madrid's "BBC" front line has been questioned after the majority of readers of Spanish newspaper AS voted against Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo starting against Napoli on Wednesday.

Los Blancos travel to the Stadio San Paolo for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 second leg on Tuesday, and M.A. del Pozo of AS revealed 77 percent of readers voted for a shift in the lineup.

That result came after Real thrashed Eibar 4-1 at Ipurua on Saturday despite the fact Benzema was the only member of the BBC present, with Bale serving a suspension and Ronaldo rested for the Napoli clash.

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The Spaniards beat Napoli 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu last month, and manager Zinedine Zidane was pleased to see Benzema score his first league goals since January against Eibar.

Per Juan Ignacio Garcia-Ochoa of Spanish daily Marca, he said: "I am very happy with his performance, for his goals and for the other things he did in buildup play. I am happy with the great game that he's had, but for the ball to get to him the rest of the players have to do well and they did."

That being said, ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan highlighted Eibar's questionable defending had a hand in Real's win on Saturday, and one can't expect Napoli to gift Los Merengues the same opportunities:

Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio started out wide in the absence of Bale and Ronaldo against Eibar, while James Rodriguez also impressed after being afforded a rare starting opportunity in the away trip.

And after witnessing a rather one-sided affair at Ipurua over the weekend, Yahoo's Andrew Gaffney questioned whether Real may indeed be better off without Bale or Ronaldo in the side:

It seems unlikely Zidane will make a knee-jerk reaction like keeping two such talented players out of his team for a second successive game, particularly after they've had one week's rest in which to gather their energy.

That being said, Real fans can afford to feel comfort in the knowledge their team isn't lost without two of its greatest influencers, and the depth of the squad has the capacity to impress even in their absence.