体坛英语新闻：Problems mount up for Zidane as crisis hit Madrid preparing to face Levante

MADRID, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid are in crisis in the wake of their 1-0 home defeat against Atletico Madrid on Saturday, but coach Zinedine Zidane has little time for lamentations as he prepares for a midweek trip to play bottom of the table Levante.

Saturday's defeat to their bitter local rivals saw fans in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium call for club President, Florentino Perez to resign, and were followed by declarations by Cristiano Ronaldo in which he appeared to criticize his companions for not being as good as he is.

Even Zidane was unable to avoid controversy, commenting, "next year there will be changes...maybe even the coach," after the match, although it seems those comments in which he questioned his future after less than two months in charge, were buried amid the controversy caused by Ronaldo.

With the Madrid based sports press conducting an in-depth analysis of where it has gone wrong yet again for Real Madrid, perhaps it is a good thing that Zidane has a midweek game to momentarily distract attention, although several key players will be missing when Madrid travel to the Ciudad de Valencia Stadium on Wednesday night.

Gareth Bale remains sidelined with his calf injury, while Karim Benzema is also going to miss out after suffering a hamstring injury on Saturday.

Left back Marcelo is also out with a calf injury and although Pepe is working hard to recover from a foot injury and could be able to return to the heart of the Real Madrid defense, he will be short of match fitness after a month out.

Meanwhile Dani Carvajal and Sergio Ramos are both suspended after completing a cycle of bookings at the weekend, meaning Zidane will have to field a defense made up of Alvaro Arbeloa at left back, Danilo on the right and with Rafael Varene and Nacho Fernandez in central defense.

A win against Levante would momentarily serve to lift the pressure on Real Madrid, but a draw or a defeat would bring the crisis at the club to boiling point.

The midweek round of matches kicks off on Tuesday as Atletico Madrid continue their pursuit of Barcelona at home to an improving Real Sociedad and Las Palmas entertain Getafe, who have lost their last 6 matches.

Meanwhile Barca travel to the capital to take on Rayo Vallecano on Thursday night.