Real Madrid will be without the services of Antonio Rudiger, Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema for Monday evening's La Liga contest with Rayo Vallecano.

Kroos is unavailable through suspension, with the German sent off in the 1-1 draw with Girona last time out.

Meanwhile, both Rudiger and Benzema have been ruled out through injury, with the forming suffering with a hip problem, while the latter is still struggling with a muscular issue.

"Benzema will not play tomorrow. His sensations are not good," Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti said during his press conference on Sunday.

"I think Benzema will play against Cadiz, though. Rudiger will not. Are we not risking Benzema because of the World Cup? No, no. We look at the facts and the facts say Benzema cannot play.

"We have managed to do well without Benzema but of course, we will need him after the World Cup. Benzema's lack of participation in some matches allows us to show players with a lot of quality, like Rodrygo, [Federico] Valverde, Vinicius [Junior]."

The France international has struggled with a number of injury issues in the early stages of the campaign, while he has only managed six goals at club level thus far this term.

The 34-year-old came off the bench in the 5-1 win over Celtic in the Champions League last week, but he has been left out of the squad for Real Madrid's penultimate match before the campaign is halted for the World Cup.

However, the reigning European and Spanish champions have been boosted by the return of Aurelien Tchouameni, who has missed the team's last two games due to a muscular problem.

The France international is joined in the squad by Eden Hazard, who was also not involved against Celtic due to a muscular problem.

"Hazard has a lot of players in front of him. He hasn't had the minutes he deserves because competition is essential at a big club to keep motivation high," Ancelotti told reporters.

"That means there may be some guys who get less playing time than they should and that's what's happening with Hazard."

Meanwhile, addressing Monday's opponents, the Italian said: "Rayo play some brilliant football, they're strong at home and they're very intense and well organised. It's a tough fixture but the team is ready. We'll only win it if we're at our best."

Real Madrid have dropped back into second position in the La Liga table due to Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Almeria on Saturday night.

Real Madrid squad vs. Rayo Vallecano:

Courtois, Lunin, Lopez; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Vallejo, Nacho, Odriozola, Vazquez, Mendy; Modric, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni, Ceballos; Hazard, Asensio, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Mariano body check tags ::