Real add voice to French protests

Real have joined forces with 10 European clubs to stop France coach Roger Lemerre from calling up their players for the match with Australia.

The French side are set to take on the Australians for a friendly match on November 11, but the clubs have signed a petition asking Lemerre to choose his players carefully.

Real would lose Zinedine Zidane and Claude Makelele should Lemerre pick his standard squad, and the pair would miss a crucial league match against Zaragoza and return back to Spain jet-lagged and tired for the following game against Seville.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger was one of the first to voice his resentment about the bad timing of the game, saying: "Nobody in Europe wants this game to go ahead, it'll leave us short-staffed at a critical point of the season."

Lemerre will name his squad for the game against Australia on October 30.