Ancelotti: Bale fit to face Liverpool

 
The Welshman has missed the European champions' last five games in all competitions with a hip problem but he could feature from the start against the Reds

Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that Gareth Bale is fit to face Livepool on Tuesday night - but the Real Madrid boss has yet to decide whether to start the Welshman at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The world's most expensive player has missed Madrid's last five games in all competitions with a hip injury but is now set to play some part in the Champions League Group B clash with the Reds.

“Bale's fine," Ancelotti told reporters on Monday. "My only doubt is whether to put Bale on from the start and also whether to rest a few of the players who have accumulated a lot of games. I’ll decide tomorrow [Tuesday]."

Ancelotti added that while Asier Illarramendi and Sami Khedira are also available for selection, full-backs Dani Carvajal and Fabio Coentrao are carrying minor problems.

"Dani suffered a minor hamstring injury but it’s not serious and he should be fully recovered by the end of the week," the former Chelsea boss revealed. "Coentrao is also on the mend."

Madrid moved top of La Liga courtesy of a 4-0 win at Granada at the weekend - Los Blancos' 11th successive victory in all competitions - and Ancelotti admitted that his troops are currently brimming with belief.

“We’re playing well at the moment and we are all happy," the Italian enthused. "We are very aware that every game we play is important – that was the attitude we had against Granada and now we are treating this game against Liverpool in the same way.

"We have confidence but not fear. We have a highly-professional side.

"We will lose some games but the team’s professionalism is 100 per cent, both when we win and when we lose."