James Rodriguez will not play for Real Madrid against Real Betis at the Santiago Bernabeu this weekend.
Rodriguez returned home to his native Colombia for the birth of his second child, after being given permission to do so by the club.
He missed Real’s 5-0 win against Leganes on Wednesday, and despite returning to Spain in time he will not feature for Zinedine Zidane’s team on Saturday night, according to Spanish outlet MARCA.
The Colombia international, who spent the last two seasons on-loan at Bayern Munich, has worked his way back into Zidane’s plans after being surplus to requirements in the summer.
He scored his first Real Madrid goal since 2017 during the 4-2 victory against Granada on October 5.
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The 28-year-old started the next match, a 1-0 loss at Real Mallorca, and came off the bench at Galatasaray.
But despite his return on Friday, he hasn’t trained with his team-mates and so misses out – he will be back in contention for the reverse Champions League game at home to Galatasaray on Wednesday.