Real Madrid without Ramos for Girona test

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos is absent from Zinedine Zidane's squad to face Girona in La Liga.

Madrid - fourth in the league after Valencia's win over Alaves on Saturday - have offered no explanation for Ramos' unexpected absence from the 18-man squad for Sunday's game at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Jesus Vallejo returns from two months out with a hamstring injury to take Ramos' place in the squad.

But there is still no place for Dani Ceballos, while Marcos Llorente also misses out against Girona, who are seventh in the table.

Ramos played the full 90 minutes as Madrid won 2-1 at Paris Saint-Germain on March 6 to knock the Ligue 1 side out of the Champions League.

But the defender left Madrid temporarily with 10 men last weekend against Eibar, Zidane explaining the centre-back had "s**t himself a little" and had to be excused.