Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale, Rodrygo out of Real Madrid Squad vs. Atletico

Real Madrid's Eden Hazard will not be fit in time to face Atletico Madrid in Saturday's derby, while Gareth Bale and Rodrygo are also out of the squad.

Per AS, manager Zinedine Zidane will not take any risks with the former Chelsea man. He has been out with an injury since November.

Per Tom Alnutt of Agence France-Presse, Zidane said Hazard has been training with the squad and could be fit in time, but he would rather not rush him back. 

Los Blancos have coped with his absence well, not losing a single match since he went down with an ankle injury in the UEFA Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain. Real sit first in the La Liga standings, three points ahead of defending champions Barcelona.

Rodrygo has been one of the main replacements of Hazard in the past few months and played in Real's last La Liga outing, a win over Real Valladolid. It's unclear whether he isn't in the squad due to injury or for tactical reasons.

Bale has also been used as a replacement for Hazard, and he trained with the rest of the squad on Friday, per Het Laatste Nieuws' Kristof Terreur. There was speculation he could be moving to England in a deadline-day move, but his agent rubbished those reports, per the Daily Mail's Kieran Gill. 

With Bale, Hazard and Rodrygo out of the squad, Real's attacking depth is limited going into Saturday's match. Brahim Diaz and Marco Asensio also aren't part of the squad, leaving Karim Benzema, Luka Jovic, Lucas Vazquez and Vinicius Jr. as the only natural forwards in the team.

Atletico's vaunted defence has lived up to the expectations this season, conceding a second-best 14 goals so far in La Liga. Only Real's defence has been better, letting in 13 goals in 21 outings.