Robben Out Of Rotated Madrid Squad For Mallorca

Arjen Robben has been forced to withdraw from Real Madrid's Copa del Rey squad to face Real Mallorca after yet another injury.

Despite coach Bernd Schuster's optimism, it appears that Arjen Robben will once again sit out a Real Madrid match.

Schuster did his best to insist that the Dutch winger would make it to the ONO Estadi, but club doctors later corrected the manager, pointing out that Robben has a thigh muscle problem.

According to RealMadrid.com, Schuster responded to questions regarding Robben's fitness thusly:

"Wasn't the training session behind closed doors? He had a little problem during the workout. He's questionable, but I hope it's not serious enough to keep him from playing. It appears that it's not bad enough to leave him here."

Just minutes later, though, doctors confirmed that the player was injured: sure enough, when the German boss announced the squad list, Robben was nowhere to be found.

In positive news for Madridistas, Pepe is back from his own knock, but the squad is characterised mostly by who it lacks, not who it includes.

No fewer than seven major players - as well as two fringe ones - have been omitted from the squad, one due to African Cup of Nations duty, one because of injury, and the others in order to be rested.

The 16-man squad in full is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Dudek, Codina

Defenders: Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Salgado, Marcelo, Torres

Midfielders: Guti, Gago, Balboa, Sneijder, Drenthe

Attackers: Higuain, Saviola, Robinho, Raul

Not Called Up: Casillas, Robben, Baptista, Van Nistelrooy, Heinze, Cannavaro, Soldado, Metzelder, and Diarra.